Another Deputy Shot in Pompano Beach

jarhed123 · #1 11-07-2007, 03:36 PM

POMPANO BEACH - The suspected killer of a Broward Sheriff's deputy was captured by Hollywood police outside a pawn shop on Hollywood Boulevard, Sheriff Al Lamberti said Wednesday.

Michael Mazza, 40, of Coral Springs, and another man pulled in front of Uptown Pawn Jewelry, 6020 Hollywood Blvd, about 12:30 p.m., said Capt. Tony Rode, Hollywood police spokesman.

The driver, who was not identified, went inside the store and told the pawn shop owner that the man accused of killing Deputy Paul Rein was sitting his car, Rode said. The owner called police and Mazza was arrested without further incident, he said.

Related links

Forty minutes later, Mazza was led in handcuffs into Broward Sheriff's headquarters at about 1:10 p.m., wearing a white T-shirt, shorts and socks and appearing to limp on his right foot.

Mazza is accused of killing Rein, 76, while the deputy was driving him in a sheriff's medical van to the county courthouse where Mazza was to stand trial for bank robbery at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Mazza took Rein's gun, shot him, dumped his body in the parking lot of a Pompano Beach nightclub and escaped in the van, officials said.

"We're sad to report we've lost another deputy," a somber Lamberti said early Wednesday afternoon. Rein's wife spoke to her husband on his cell phone about 10 minutes before the incident, Lamberti said.

A passerby watched Rein getting pushed from the van and called 911 about 8:10 a.m., officials said. Rescue crews arrived and took Rein to North Broward Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Mazza drove south, eventually dumping the white, ambulance-like vehicle outside a Flannigan's restaurant at Southwest 27th Avenue and Davie Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Lamberti said earlier that investigators believe Mazza then caught a taxicab to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

Mazza was not dressed in a prison uniform because he was going to court, Lamberti said.

Police throughout South Florida launched a manhunt for Mazza, searching Palm Beach County train stations, oceanfront condos in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and his Coral Springs neighborhood. All Broward public schools and Catholic schools were locked down for several hours.

Coral Springs police removed Mazza's 3-year-old son from Creative Child Preschool about 8:40 a.m. The boy and Mazza's wife, Lisa, were with Coral Springs police, said police spokesman Sgt. Joe McHugh.

Rein, a 20-year Sheriff's Office veteran, comes from a family of law enforcement officers, Lamberti said. His son recently retired from the Davie Police Department, and his stepson is a Coconut Creek police officer.

His death marks the third time in four months that a deputy has been shot, and the second time one has been killed.

In August, Deputy Maury Hernandez was critically wounded by a gunman during a routine traffic stop. Less than a week later, Sgt. Chris Reyka was killed in Pompano Beach while running license plates.

"The first sentiment we got was, 'Oh no, not again,'" said Lamberti. "It's disconcerting."

Rein, who was a detention deputy, picked up Mazza from the North Broward Detention Center for a 9 a.m. court appearance in Fort Lauderdale, the Sheriff's Office said. Rein's job was to transport inmates to court or hospitals, Lamberti said.

He was alone with Mazza in the van Wednesday morning, which is routine, Lamberti said. Mazza was handcuffed in the back, Lamberti said, adding that a cage separates the deputy from the defendant.

"We are looking at the possibility that it was pre-planned or that he had accomplices," Lamberti said. "It was known that he was coming back to court [today]."

Sheriff's spokesman Elliot Cohen said that Mazza was already serving two life sentences for strong-arm robbery and was considered extremely dangerous. His criminal history dates back to 1990 and includes robberies and drug possession. In July, he was convicted to life in prison for the armed robbery of a drugstore, prosecutors said.

Mazza faced trial for robbing a Coral Springs Bank of America and was to go before Circuit Judge Paul Backman. The charges were robbery while wearing a mask, fleeing law enforcement, reckless driving and two counts of armed robbery.

Prosecutor Heather Henricksen said Mazza was caught with $24,000 cash on him after the bank robbery.

Backman, Mazza's attorney, Maurice Graham, and prosecutors listened to updates about the shooting on the radio. Graham said he's known Mazza since he was a teenager.

At about 9:30 a.m., Graham said he filed for a mistrial because his client was absent from court, and "the equilibrium of the case has changed, things have changed."

Graham last saw his client about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when they were in court picking a jury for the case. The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information to call Broward Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

FHP0665 · #2 11-07-2007, 04:23 PM

The POS should have a choice now... be turned over to the family of the officer to do as they please with him or stand tall in front of this!

This would probably be quicker for him!