The career criminal accused of killing a police officer appeared at a bail hearing in a Bronx court Thursday morning for a prior drug charge.
Tyrone Howard, 30, who allegedly shot NYPD Officer Randolph Holder dead in East Harlem on October 20, was arrested in 2013 for possessing 33 small bags of crack cocaine while serving time on Rikers Island.
But after posting bail in 2013, he skipped out on five court dates and was finally brought back into court after being arrested for the cop shooting.
Clad in an orange jumpsuit, Howard stared straight ahead as his bail was raised to $50,000 on Thursday.
“He’s being charged and now has been indicted for shooting and killing a member of service who was on duty as a New York City Police Officer,” Assistant District Attorney Avni Patel said at the hearing.
“When the defendant was arraigned on this case back in 2013, the people did request substantial bail, and bail was set in the amount of $2,500,” she continued.
“The defendant made that bail, it was not sufficient to bring the defendant back to court, or for preventing him from being rearrested and staying out of trouble.”
In 2013, Bronx prosecutors had offered Howard a deal for three to six years if he pleaded guilty to the drug charge, but he was arrested in another drug case in Manhattan in October 2014 before the deal went through.
The Manhattan judge allowed Howard to enter rehab instead of serving a prison sentence for the drug charge — but he dropped out of the program by Sept. 1.
Howard’s next court date in connection to the Rikers Island drug case was scheduled for January 6, 2016.