By Michael V. Cusenza
A member of the four-man crew that assassinated a rookie Queens cop 35 years ago has been granted parole, according to the City Police Benevolent Association.
Scott Cobb was the wheelman, tasked with driving the hitmen to and from the Jamaica scene. Cobb, along with David McClary, Todd Scott and Phillip Copeland, acted in concert to carry out notorious drug kingpin Howard “Pappy” Mason’s orders to kill a police officer.
Edward Byrne, a rookie cop just seven months out of the academy and assigned to the 103rd Precinct, was summarily executed on Feb. 26, 1988, as he sat in his marked radio motor patrol car at 107th Avenue and Inwood Street, guarding the home of a critical witness in a major drug case against Mason. The home of the witness had already been firebombed to discourage him from testifying against Mason in open court.
At approximately 3:30 a.m., Scott knocked on the passenger-side window of Byrne’s car to distract him as McClary opened fire just outside the driver’s side window. Byrne was shot five times in the head with a .38-caliber pistol.
He was 22 years old.
In 2020, former City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Byrne’s execution “stunned our city and our nation, changing the course of American policing.”
PBA President Patrick Hendry, who is assigned to the 103rd Precinct, noted, “All cop-killer paroles are infuriating, but this one is especially outrageous considering the shockwaves this crime sent through this precinct, the NYPD, the city and nation.
“When Eddie Byrne was assassinated,” Hendry continued, “it galvanized cops and the community to work together to take our streets back from these violent drug gangs. That was Eddie Byrne’s legacy, and the insane Parole Board is tearing it to shreds. New York City police officers are absolutely sickened by this parole decision, and New Yorkers who care about safe streets should be, too. We need you to speak up and demand that our elected leaders in Albany fix the broken parole system so that none of the other Byrne assassins go free.”
Cobb’s release is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 9, according to online Parole Board records.
“The Parole Board’s disregard for justice in paroling Cobb is not only an affront to the memory of Edward Byrne and the Byrne Family, but also an insult to the countless men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect our communities,” added City Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Hillcrest).
Mason continues to serve a federal life sentence without the possibility of parole. Copeland, McClary and Scott remain in prison, but all are scheduled to appear before the board in the near future: Copeland in September, McClary in October and Scott in January.
