Broward deputy killed in Pompano (August 10, 2007)

[seafan]

Broward deputy killed in Pompano

BY WANDA J. DeMARZO AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
August 10, 2007


http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/198765.html#x">Image
Deputy Chris Reyka died in the Walgreens parking lot in Pompano Beach early Friday morning. He was shot in the head.

A Broward sheriff's deputy was shot to death early Friday behind a Walgreens drugstore in Pompano Beach.

A manhunt was underway for his killer or killers.

It is the second time in four days a BSO deputy has been shot in the line of duty.

The latest shooting occurred about 1:20 a.m. Friday at a 24-hour Walgreens at Cypress Bend Drive and Powerline Road in Pompano Beach.

Deputy Chris Reyka, 51, had seen two cars parked behind the store and became suspicious. As he was getting out of his patrol car to investigate, he was ambushed and shot, said BSO spokesman Elliot Cohen.

.....

''This has been one of the most difficult, saddest, most challenging weeks this agency has ever had,'' Sheriff Ken Jenne told reporters after meeting at the hospital with the dozens of deputies who worked with Reyka.

.....

Reyka, of Wellington, had been on the force for 18 years, serving with the Pompano Beach Police Department before BSO took it over in 1999. He has four children -- two at home, ages 13 and 15, a 21-year-old in college and a son serving in the U.S. Marine Corps who is scheduled to go to Iraq in two weeks.

Dozens of law enforcement officers from all over Broward and Palm Beach County were looking for two suspects, last seen heading north on Powerline in an early '90s model white four-door sedan. It might have been stolen. Its license plate number is F16 8UJ.

A dragnet was set up for miles around, with helicopters from BSO and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office scouring the area from above, and K-9 units searching on the ground.

.....

[SteppingRazor]

1. Happened a few blocks from me.

While driving to work a little before 6 a.m. this morning, the only info on the radio was that it was a white, four-door sedan.

And as I headed to I-95 down Atlantic Blvd. in my white, four-door Honda, I was a teeny bit nervous, to say the least.

Anyway, it's almost 9 a.m. now, and they still haven't found the jagoff that did this. There's pleas on the radio for the guy to turn himself in, but come on. He killed a cop in cold blood. Executed him. The only question left is whether he's going to die in the street or on Death Row.

[seafan]

2. More info on the getaway car:

Massive dragnet on for BSO deputy's killer


http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/198765.html#x">Image
Police believe this is the getaway car used by the man or men who shot BSO Deputy Chris Reyka early Friday morning.

A massive hunt is underway for two men believed to be involved in the slaying of a Broward sheriff's deputy early Friday. Their target: a white four-door American-made sedan that could be up to 10 years old.

That's the vehicle seen leaving the Pompano Beach Walgreens where Deputy Chris Reyka was shot multiple times just after 1 a.m.

The Florida license plate number is F16 8UJ. It might have been stolen. The license plate is registered to an Oakland Park plumbing company that hadn't noticed it was missing.

.....

[seafan]

3. Massive manhunt still on, Saturday, August 11.

Sergeant Chris Reyka


Authorities hunt for men who killed sergeant


To report information about the shooting, call the Broward County Sheriff's Office at 954-765-4321.

[seafan]

4. Update

BSO officials take custody of "suspicious" car set ablaze early Sunday

By Hemmy So | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
1:26 PM EDT, August 12, 2007

HOLLYWOOD - Broward Sheriff's Office investigators have taken custody of a car set ablaze early Sunday morning in Hollywood to determine whether it is related to the shooting death of Sgt. Chris Reyka, who died on duty Friday.

The car was set on fire at around 2 a.m. on the 5800 block of Dawson Street and became fully engulfed in flames, according to police. The car was either a white Chevrolet or Buick sedan, said Capt. Tony Rode, Hollywood Police Department spokesman.

Sheriff's Office officials declined to comment on the car fire until a 3 p.m. press conference at the Broward Sheriff's Office station in Pompano Beach. Officials think whoever shot at Reyka came out of a white, older-model American-made sedan with tinted windows outside a 24-hour Walgreens in Pompano Beach.

.....

Rode said car fires of this nature typically happen after the car has been used in a crime.

More details from the Miami Herald:

By WANDA J. DeMARZO
August 12, 2007

.....

The car was set on fire about 2 a.m. outside a warehouse at 5818 Dawson St., said Hollywood police spokesman Tony Rode.

It appears to be an older model Buick or Chevrolet sedan -- similar to the one seen on video leaving the area where BSO Sgt. Chris Reyka was gunned down.

Fire investigators said the Hollywood car was burnt so badly its vehicle identification number melted.

Hollywood Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Mark Speele said there's still enough metal on the car to determine its make.

.....