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Nov 8, 2007 1:04 am US/Eastern
Deputy Shooting Suspect Has Long Criminal Past
Suspect is Michael Mazza
He has a heart tattoo on his chest with the inscription "Break this bitch."
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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Michael Mazza was wanted in connection with the shooting of a BSO deputy.
CBS
The suspect at the center of a massive manhunt for allegedly shooting and critically wounding a Broward County Sheriff's deputy has a long criminal record.
Michael Mazza, 40, identified by BSO as the man who shot the deputy while being transported to court Wednesday morning, was heading to his trial for a February 28th bank robbery.
That robbery took place at a Bank of America on Coral Ridge Drive in Coral Springs on February 28th of this year. After the robbery, he led police on a short chase which ended when he crashed his car into another vehicle, injuring himself and two others.
He was charged in this case with robbery while using a mask, fleeing a law enforcement officer, and two counts of armed robbery.
Mazza was already serving two life sentences for other armed robberies.
Mazza's past criminal record begins in 1990 when he was charged in Broward County with grand theft and two counts of cocaine possession.
In March of 1994, it appears Mazza went on a three-day crime spree after which he was charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and three more counts of robbery with a deadly weapon in Hillsborough County near Tampa.
In November of 2003, Palm Beach County authorities charged Mazza with robbery without a gun, at a Lake Worth 'Bank of America' inside a Publix Supermarket. During his arrest, Mazza claimed he was having a seizure while being led to a police cruiser. No seizure was ever detected. He was sentenced in 2004 and served jail time on these charges.
According to Florida's Department of Corrections, Mazza has served prison time twice. The first time was from November 1997 to February 2002. He went back into prison in December 2004 and was released on October 8th, 2006.
Mazza is considered armed and dangerous. A sheriff's office spokesman says Wednesday's escape was possibly pre-planned.
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