By Christiana Sciaudone, Ardy Friedberg & Peter Bernard, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Broward Sheriff’s Office on Monday released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning in the weekend murder of a rookie deputy working an off-duty detail at a car dealership near Pompano Beach.
Also, Monday the Florida Department of Law Enforcenment announced it was bumping the reward in the murder of Deputy Philip Guy Billings up $5,000 to $30,000 and encouraged anyone with information on the case or who knows the whereabouts of the man wanted for questioning to call Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 954-493-TIPS or to dial 9-1-1.
The man wanted for questioning in connection was described as white, in his mid 20’s, approximately 6-feet tall with a thin build and light-colored hair. Witnesses say they saw the man in the sketch getting into a dark-colored, mid 1990’s Ford Explorer or Expedition near the scene just moments after the shooting.
Billings was shot to death early Sunday morning in the parking lot of a car dealership near Pompano Beach. Billings, 25, was working at Coral Cadillac on Federal Highway about 12:40 a.m. when he was shot by an unknown assailant, according to Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne. Billings was wearing his uniform and a bulletproof vest while working the off-duty detail arranged through the sheriff’s office.
Billings, who was found in front of the showroom, never had the chance to call for backup. The first deputy was on scene about two minutes after neighbors called police, and as many as 200 officers from Broward and Palm Beach County departments responded, along with helicopters and dogs, officials said.
A former missionary in Bolivia, Billings had been a sheriff’s deputy for 18 months. He was born in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, and had two siblings. He came to South Florida in the late 1990s and graduated with a degree in business management from Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Christian college in West Palm Beach.
“He liked his job and he knew, as we all knew, that there were dangers involved,’' said his father, Jim Billings, of Cooper City. “But there are dangers in life everywhere. He wasn’t perfect but he made a decision to serve God in the best way he thought he could.’'
The elder Billings’ said his son was always giving back to society, whether by taking missionary trips to Bolivia or simply patrolling the streets of Broward County.
“We called him M.K., a `Missionary Kid,’” Billings said. “We taught him that there is more to life than getting rich and living comfortably ... that you can become even richer by investing in people.”
A visitation will be held Wednesday at Ralph T.M. Plantation Funeral Home, Jenne said. The funeral will be held Thursday.
Billings was the first deputy shot to death in the line of duty since Patrick Behan was killed in the parking lot of a Pembroke Park convenience store in 1990.
Jenne said his deputies were “very upset. Phil Billings was a well-thought-of, well-respected young deputy.’'
But Jenne was clearly shaken about Billings’ murder on Sunday.
“Until we get our facts down squarely, we’re going to play it my way by my rules,” he said. “We aren’t going to be premature in how we handle this thing. We’ll do it by the book and do it properly.”
His comments were a reference to the problems that popped up 11 years after the murder of Behan, when a man told undercover officers that he -- not the man convicted -- had killed the deputy.
Jenne, who said 50 deputies have been assigned to the Billings murder, expressed his sorrow to the family of the slain deputy and vowed the killer would be caught.
“We’re going to get you. This is obviously a high priority,” Jenne said. “You can do it the easy way or you can make us work. My deputies enjoy working. They are going to be able to solve this case.”
“Our investigators have as long as they want to have a deliberate investigation so there aren’t any problems,” Jenne said. “Time is not on the bad guy’s side. It’s on our side. We’re going to make a strong case.”
Dispatchers on Sunday repeatedly sent out a radio alert for officers to be on the lookout for a white male of unknown height in connection with the case. The man was described as having short, dirty blond or brown hair, wearing a white tank top and blue jeans and carrying a gun in each hand. Dispatchers said the man fled west on Northeast 51st Street, then got into the passenger side of a black or gray Ford Expedition, Explorer or Chevrolet Blazer with dark tinted windows. The vehicle headed west and then went north on Northeast 19th Avenue, they said.
Jenne said the department was “very fortunate to have Philip Billings with us even though it was for a very short period of time. He packed a lot of life in his 25 years.”
Billings, who was in uniform and had a police cruiser, was working the security detail under a contract the dealership has had with the Sheriff’s Office for 16 years. Under the agreement, the Sheriff’s Office provides uniformed officers to patrol the private property.
“That area is very low crime,” Jenne said. “This is an aberration.” He would not say whether a surveillance video caught a suspect or whether there were any witnesses.
Billings was hired by the Sheriff’s Office in fall 2001, and graduated from the police academy a year ago.
After Sunday’s shooting he was taken to North Broward Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:22 a.m. He was the 12th Broward Sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty.
At the dealership, which was closed for the day, a flatbed tow truck carried away a black Cadillac Escalade ESV with chrome rims. The driver’s side window was shattered, and there were shards of glass left along the top and bottom of the frame. Black plastic covering fluttered in place of the window. A dent was visible in the driver’s side back door several inches below the window.
The dealership, at 5101 N. Federal Highway, declined to comment on the car or the murder. A white pickup parked near the dealership was processed by crime scene technicians.
Federal Highway was shut down in both directions between Northeast 51st Street and Northeast 54th Street until 10:30 a.m., when the northbound side was opened. A southbound lane opened later.
In the Behan case, former Detention Deputy Andrew Johnson came forward 11 years after the murder and told undercover officers that he killed Behan, giving details of the crime. A 10-month, $250,000 investigation that followed Johnson’s revelations concluded that he did not kill Behan and had gotten his facts about the murder from the newspapers and television.
Another man, Timothy Brown, is currently serving a life sentence for the killing but that case is in jeopardy because a federal judge has thrown out Brown’s conviction. Judge Donald Graham has given the state 90 days to decide whether to retry Brown.