Nov 7, 2007 11:28 pm US/Eastern
Murdered BSO Deputy Was Veteran On 2nd Career
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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Deputy Paul Rein, a 20 year veteran of the Broward Sheriff's Office, killed in the line of duty during a prisoner transfer.
Broward Sheriff's Office/CBS
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A prisoner transport van used by Michael Mazza to make his escape was found at Davie Boulevard and 27th Avenue.
CBS
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Michael Mazza is wanted in connection with the shooting of a BSO deputy.
BSO/CBS
The Broward County Sheriff's deputy who was fatally shot by a prisoner on the way to court, was a twenty year veteran of the Broward Sheriff's office and that was his second career.
Deputy Paul Rein, 76, was 55 years old when he left his job as a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service to begin a second career as a Broward County sheriff's deputy.
Rein then put in 20-plus years with the sheriff's office before he was gunned down Wednesday morning as he transported a convicted robber to court.
"He was a typical father, a typical husband, working very hard for his family," Rein's ex-wife, Mollie Meyers, told The Associated Press. "Sometimes he held down two jobs to provide for his family."
Rein and Meyers had two children together, she said. One of their sons, Richard Rein, just retired as a lieutenant from the Davie police force and another is a microbiologist. His stepson, Chris Beroldi, is a police officer for the Coconut Creek police department. His is currently married to Theresa Rein.
Meyers, 75, said she and Rein had split up seven years to the day he was killed after 49 years of marriage. Both remarried.
BSO Sheriff Al Lamberti told reporters at North Broward Medical Center that Rein had spoken to his current wife Theresa on his cell phone just ten minutes before the shooting. "You never think it's going to happen to you," Lamberti said she told him.
Rein had been a transport deputy his entire law enforcement career. Law enforcement sources said in recent years Rein had been assigned to transport inmates with medical conditions. Michael Mazza, who complained of back pain, was in a wheelchair Wednesday for his court appearance when he allegedly attacked Rein.
Rein was pushed from a BSO medical transport van, which sped away. He died a short time later at a hospital. Mazza was arrested hours later outside a Hollywood pawn shop, Rein's gun in his possession, Sheriff Al Lamberti said.
A relative who answered the phone at Rein's home Wednesday said the family there declined comment.
Meyers, 75, said she and Rein had split up seven years to the day he was killed after 49 years of marriage. Both remarried.
Meyers said that while she had no contact with Rein since they split, she was trying to come to grips with the slaying. "It hasn't sunk in yet. I couldn't tell you how I feel," she said.
Meyers said she rarely worried about Rein while he was at work because of the nature of his job dealing with jail inmates instead of working the streets.
However, she did say her ex-husband should have had help with Mazza, whom she called a "terrible person."
"There should have been another deputy with him," Meyers said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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