History
Russ was a police officer who, alongside his partner Marcie Miller, responded to a shooting and discovered the Punisher who they tried to arrest, they were disarmed with ease while the Punisher escaped them.[1] A dirty cop, Detective Stu Westin was told to find the Punisher and had Russ and Marcie faked injuries at a press conference to rile up the media and their fellow officers to seek the Punisher's arrest much to Russ and Marcie's chagrin and derision.[2]
When Russ and Marcie heard that another officer had found himself in a similar position they approached him hoping to unravel the reason behind the lies which led to them being assaulted by seven other officers in the locker room in what was made to seem like a homophobic attack aimed at Russ.[3] Russ and Marcie were given a week off and the official line was that they had fallen down the stairs, Russ still suspected Westin's involvement and convinced Marcie to see what they could learn and to fight back. Together they tracked down Jennifer Cooke a social worker who had met the Punisher in the past and whom he had chosen to help him get the information he needed and help the victims of sex trafficking he came across.[4]
When the Punisher called Jennifer to warn her she might be in danger Russ and Marcie told her what to say in an attempt to get the Punisher to meet with her. Russ had come up with a plan to arrest the Punisher which Marcie was unsure would work but which she ultimately agreed to. The Punisher had figured out they would be attending the meeting and that they were doing it without the backing of the NYPD and attended to see what they wanted. They revealed what they had learned about Westin on their week off including that he was using another dirty cop to surveil Jennifer which led them to the Punisher who they made a deal with, they wouldn't interfere with him taking out the slavers as long as they got dirt on Westin and were the ones to arrest him.[5]
Marcy was unsure of working with the Punisher but Russ pointed out it might help them make detective, Marcie then pointed out that taking down a cop, even a corrupt one, might do the opposite. Russ told her she could walk away but Marcie told him she couldn't and wouldn't do that. Russ received a copy of a file on Westin but the corrupt detective himself was used by the Punisher and presumed killed and Russ appeared to be stuck on traffic duty, dealing with car accidents.[6]