A cop killer paroled after nearly 40 years in prison has been busted four times in the past 12 months, sprung from jail three times, and is now demanding his freedom yet again — an “appalling” slap in the face to the dead officer’s family, they said.
Bruce Lorick, 66, murdered NYPD Officer Joseph Keegan, 40, on June 19, 1980, shooting him in the head with the cop’s gun when he tried to stop him for jumping a turnstile inside the Columbus Circle subway station on the Upper West Side.
Lorick was sentenced to 25 years to life for second-degree murder and was in Shawangunk State prison until his release on lifetime parole in April 2021, online records show.
Eight months later, in December 2022 he was arrested for strangulation, a police source said.
Then, six months after that, he was picked up for criminal contempt in June 2023, the sources said.
The arrests were sealed so no further details were available.
On Nov. 18, Lorick was busted for stealing $285 worth of shrimp, chicken, Jimmy Dean frozen meals, and other items from a Target on the Upper East Side, according to police and sources.
“Guess he was shopping for Thanksgiving,” a police source quipped at the time.
He was sprung on Nov. 26 after a bail recognizance hearing.
And less than a month later, on Dec. 22 he was arrested again for allegedly using and possessing cocaine, failing to notify parole of a change in program status, and failing to complete inpatient substance abuse treatment, records show.
This time, he was remanded to Rikers.
But he could soon be back on the street after his Legal Aid Society attorneys sued in Bronx Supreme Court on Dec. 29 to have him sprung again.
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“It’s just unbelievable that he keeps going in and out of prison,” said Keegan’s niece, Linda Blanco, 62. “He’s a cop killer.
“We’re a family of police. My niece and nephew are on the job now with the NYPD,” added Blanco, whose father, uncle, and cousins were also police officers. “It’s just appalling that we have to go through this and that he’s out there getting in and out of prison like he has a get-out-of-jail card. I don’t understand that.”
At every turn, it’s been a gut punch for Keegan’s family.
When he first became eligible for parole in 2005, it was revealed that Lorick had placed a personal ad on prisonerlife.com looking for a potential wife.
He wrote that he was looking for a “female between 30-57 who is unafraid of being herself and desire[s] to be loved totally.”
Describing himself as an “emotionally secure gentleman” who is “humorous, witty, romantic, loyal, a good listener, excellent lover and a true friend,” Lorick specified at the time that his ideal partner would be “any Christian woman who does not consider herself a fanatic.”
That also floored the executed cop’s family.
“Yeah, he tried to find a girlfriend while he’s in prison and didn’t even say that he was . . . in for murder,” Blanco said. “That was unbelievable.”
John Keegan, 78, said he was assured by the state Parole Board that his brother’s killer wouldn’t get out.
“That was a lie,” he said.
“It’s outrageous,” he continued. “I thought parole was that if you violate parole you automatically go back in.”
His big brother was two weeks from retirement when he was murdered. “He was going to move to Las Vegas,” Keegan said. “He had a security job waiting for him out there.”
Lorick’s attorney did not comment.