Lamberti Discusses Unsolved Murder Of BSO's Chris Reyka
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) – The unsolved murder of Broward Sheriff Sgt. Chris Reyka took center stage at BSO Wednesday, exactly four years after the deputy was shot and killed in the line of duty.
BSO Sheriff Al Lamberti spoke to reporters about the murder and discussed the ongoing investigation.
Lamberti said he is disappointed but is not discouraged that no one has been arrested. He said that he wants to give the Broward State Attorney's Office a solid case and he is confident that the case can be solved because BSO investigators are developing some new leads. He did not go into details about those leads.
Sgt. Reyka, 51, was shot five times on August 10th, 2007 in a Walgreen's parking lot in Pompano Beach as he checked a license plate on a suspicious car.
Reyka entered a license tag into his computer system before he left his cruiser. One of the tags entered came back to a stolen white ford which was captured on surveillance tape leaving the scene, but the car was never found and no one has been charged with his murder.
Lamberti said he is determined to find those responsible for the killing.
"There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about this case because every day that I put my uniform on I am reminded because I'm still wearing this pin, I told Mrs. Reyka that I would wear it, it's Sgt. Reyka's badge number, and I wear it under my badge and over my heart," said Lamberti. "I told Mrs. Reyka that I would continue to wear it every day until those killers are brought to justice, and justice is what we want."
Lamberti attended a moment of silence for the fallen deputy around 1:30 a.m. at the scene of the crime.
Reyka left behind a wife and four children.
Earlier this year, detectives got a new lead when investigators in England recovered fingerprint details from one of the shell casings used in the crime using a new technique that can lift a fingerprint from a spent casing; even if it has been wiped clean.
Neither the gun used to kill Reyka, nor the killer's getaway car has ever been found.
Suspicion had fallen on a group of accused drugstore robbers, including Timothy Johnson and Gerald Joshua. Lamberti has only called them 'persons of interest' and wouldn't comment about their possible connection to the case on Wednesday.
"I feel comfortable that we are moving in the right direction. We have a lot of leads. We are reworking some old leads," he said.
Reyka's widow, Kim Reyka, renewed the plea she made when she spoke with CBS4 in 2009.
"I would hope that someone would come forward...so justice could be served," she said.
There is a reward of $267,000 dollars in this case. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.
