Miami Fla July 11 2009
A decorated retired Miami police captain working security at a boatyard on the Miami River was shot in the back of the head Friday. Detectives are investigating whether his tips to federal agents in ferreting out smuggling on the waterfront played a role in his murder.
Sources identified the man as Robert Yee, 61. He appears to have been shot multiple times execution-style.
Yee was taken in critical condition to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead.
He had been driving a golf cart through the Hurricane Cove Marina, 1884 NW North River Dr., about 12:45 p.m. Witnesses reported hearing a number of shots.
Police arrived quickly and issued a bulletin for a short, white, balding man with a goatee and a silver late-model Toyota Corolla. They spent much of the afternoon interviewing workers and other potential witnesses at the marina.
Police released little information late Friday.
However, sources told The Miami Herald that Yee might have been killed because he was sharing information with law enforcement about drug or migrant smuggling along the Miami River.
Yee, who retired from the Miami Police Department in 1995, after 25 years on the force, decided on a career in law enforcement after a New York City police officer saved the life of his infant daughter.
Diana Yee had suffered an allergic reaction to penicillin. The New York officer drove the baby to the hospital against one-way traffic -- and then ran the last half block with the baby in his arms.
Yee was inspired to quit his job as a Volkswagen mechanic and moved to Miami in 1969.
Four years later, Yee was shot in the foot during a gunfight at a Little Havana Burger King. He had arrived to find two employees tied up -- and an armed robbery in progress. He thwarted the robbery, shot the suspect and was hailed as a hero the following day. He was 25.
Yee rose through the ranks, and in the late 1990s served as head of the department's horse force.
''He was a very good officer and a good servant of this community,'' said Miami City Commissioner Angel Gonzalez, who knew Yee from his days as a patrol officer. ``He was a very polite person, very friendly.''
Added Sgt. Armando Aguilar, president of the Fraternal Order of Police: ``He was well respected by everyone, a very good man. `We're all very saddened by this.''
The police captain suffered tragedy of his own.
In 2001, daughter Diana was killed by her ex-boyfriend after the two argued about their child.
Luis Aviles killed Diana Yee in a Fort Lauderdale motel room and then put her body in the back of a Chevrolet Impala and drove to Miami-Dade. Firefighters found her charred body inside the car, after extinguishing the fire at Northwest 146th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Aviles pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Bill Matthewman, a defense attorney and former Miami police officer, represented Yee in a divorce in the 1990s. He called Yee a ''salt-of-the-earth type guy'' who was devastated by his daughter's murder.
''He was greatly affected by that,'' Matthewman said. ``Having known him for a long time, his family and his kids were very important to him. Family came first.''
A second daughter is an officer with the Miami-Dade Police Department in Doral.
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A decorated retired Miami police captain working security at a boatyard on the Miami River was shot in the back of the head Friday. Detectives are investigating whether his tips to federal agents in ferreting out smuggling on the waterfront played a role in his murder.
Sources identified the man as Robert Yee, 61. He appears to have been shot multiple times execution-style.
Yee was taken in critical condition to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead.
He had been driving a golf cart through the Hurricane Cove Marina, 1884 NW North River Dr., about 12:45 p.m. Witnesses reported hearing a number of shots.
Police arrived quickly and issued a bulletin for a short, white, balding man with a goatee and a silver late-model Toyota Corolla. They spent much of the afternoon interviewing workers and other potential witnesses at the marina.
Police released little information late Friday.
However, sources told The Miami Herald that Yee might have been killed because he was sharing information with law enforcement about drug or migrant smuggling along the Miami River.
Yee, who retired from the Miami Police Department in 1995, after 25 years on the force, decided on a career in law enforcement after a New York City police officer saved the life of his infant daughter.
Diana Yee had suffered an allergic reaction to penicillin. The New York officer drove the baby to the hospital against one-way traffic -- and then ran the last half block with the baby in his arms.
Yee was inspired to quit his job as a Volkswagen mechanic and moved to Miami in 1969.
Four years later, Yee was shot in the foot during a gunfight at a Little Havana Burger King. He had arrived to find two employees tied up -- and an armed robbery in progress. He thwarted the robbery, shot the suspect and was hailed as a hero the following day. He was 25.
Yee rose through the ranks, and in the late 1990s served as head of the department's horse force.
''He was a very good officer and a good servant of this community,'' said Miami City Commissioner Angel Gonzalez, who knew Yee from his days as a patrol officer. ``He was a very polite person, very friendly.''
Added Sgt. Armando Aguilar, president of the Fraternal Order of Police: ``He was well respected by everyone, a very good man. `We're all very saddened by this.''
The police captain suffered tragedy of his own.
In 2001, daughter Diana was killed by her ex-boyfriend after the two argued about their child.
Luis Aviles killed Diana Yee in a Fort Lauderdale motel room and then put her body in the back of a Chevrolet Impala and drove to Miami-Dade. Firefighters found her charred body inside the car, after extinguishing the fire at Northwest 146th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Aviles pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Bill Matthewman, a defense attorney and former Miami police officer, represented Yee in a divorce in the 1990s. He called Yee a ''salt-of-the-earth type guy'' who was devastated by his daughter's murder.
''He was greatly affected by that,'' Matthewman said. ``Having known him for a long time, his family and his kids were very important to him. Family came first.''
A second daughter is an officer with the Miami-Dade Police Department in Doral.
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Join Us At MySpace/privateofficernews
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