Officer Remembered Thru Charity Tournament
By Chief Fred Maas


His nickname was “Oreo” and his colleagues will tell you that the nickname befit his sweet and caring personality. “He was always there for others…” And so it was when almost 40 South Florida Softball teams, police and civilian alike, came together, “to be there” for his family on Saturday, October 16, 2004.

Mills Pond Park was the scene of the highly successful tournament to raise money for this well liked and popular officer who was killed tragically in a car accident on his way home from work one evening. He had just finished an arrest of several burglary suspects and was going home to his 3 daughters and wife after a long day at work. He NEVER made it. A motorist ran a stop sign colliding with his police vehicle and fatally injuring him. “OREO” was lost to his family and friends forever.

But good people are memorialized thru the efforts of others and that is why so many turned out to help out. More than $14,000. was raised thru an all-day, 2 day softball tournament in Ft. Lauderdale. The Sunny Isles Beach Police Team, thru the generous support and sponsorship of the Public Safety and Advisory Council, also went to support and play ball. Our police team faired very well against the other police teams but were “out gunned” by tournament teams that traveled from as far as Fort Myers to show their support. But in the end it was all worth the aches, pains long waits in between games. We as a team were all together, standing proudly in support of a colleague who would have been playing himself if the tournament was for someone other than himself. The North Miami Beach Police did a remarkable job in putting it all together and we were proud to represent the City of Sunny Isles Beach for such a great cause.

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