District Attorney investigator, Betsy Mazzuola, has received a life-time achievement award and will soon be retiring. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

A powerhouse when it comes to giving

DA investigator has let few challenges hold her back; Galt resident was awarded for helping stalking victims

When Betsy Mazzuola puts her mind to something, there's apparently no stopping her.

Whether she's raising money for the Special Olympics, protecting a stalking victim or becoming the first female officer in a police department, the San Joaquin County District Attorney's investigator takes on the challenge.

Last week, the Galt resident received a prestigious state award for her efforts in improving stalking investigations, but her humble nature still shows through: The genuine crystal award still sits in its closed box. Instead, she has framed a letter of thanks from one of the many stalking victims she has helped.

"It just gives you a good feeling to know you've given them their lives back," the Tennessee native said in her distinctive Southern drawl.

That accent, along with her healthy dose of humor, made her a hit at training conferences. She and Deputy District Attorney Ken Puckett teamed up in 1999 to improve the way stalking cases are investigated and prosecuted, and before long their expertise was in high demand by various agencies.

But now Mazzuola is once again making a change. She's retiring in a month so that she can go full-time into charity work while also taking care of her elderly mother.

"I'm almost 50," she said this week, shyly lowering her voice as she mentioned her age. "I've got the first 50 years behind me, so now what do I do with the next part?"

The first part of her life has certainly had enough variety.

In 1986, Mazzuola became the first female officer of the 21-member Winchester Police Department in Tennessee, making $4.25 an hour. The City Council had hired her over the objection of the police chief. When she started work, the chief said, "Guess they hired you," and threw some too-large men's uniforms at her.

"I had to go through a bunch of agility tests that were totally illegal, but I did it because I wanted the job," she said.

She passed the tests and spent the next decade working in her hometown, spending seven of those years investigating sexual assault and abuse cases.

Mazzuola shows her Lifetime Achievement award Monday in her Stockton office. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Then in 1995, she was accepted to the FBI's national academy in Quantico, Va., where she met peace officers from around the globe.

"That was truly a turning point in my career. Born and raised in Franklin County, Tenn., I'd never been out of the state," Mazzuola said.

At that point, she was making $9 an hour after a decade on the police force.

Six months later, Mazzuola was selected as the Tennessee officer to return to the FBI academy for another week of training in child exploitation. There she me Janis Trulsson, now a lieutenant in the District Attorney's investigations unit.

Mazzuola hadn't known anything about California, but she went home, packed her things in a moving truck and headed across the country. She started as an investigative assistant in the DA's office, since she had to pass California peace officer requirements in order to carry a gun and work on the street. Then she became a trainee.

She was soon thriving at her work, and before long had formed the department's first stalking unit.

"Stalking is an insidious crime. You'll find a series of little crimes that by themselves would be meaningless but when you add them up, it can terrify the victim," District Attorney Jim Willett said. "It takes a trained investigator to put all the pieces together."

Along the way, Mazzuola got involved in the Special Olympics. Her youngest sister had Downs Syndrome, so Mazzuola understood such challenges.

"You see people struggle so hard for things we take for granted," Mazzuola said, quickly growing more animated as she talked about her true passion.

When she met fellow investigator Buzz Mazzuola, who had joined the office after 29 years with the Stockton Police Department, one of their first dates was to a Special Olympics fund-raiser.

Before long, the Harley Davidson rider had thrown his heart into the organization, too. Seven years ago, the couples started an "Unsung Heroes" motorcycle ride to raise money for the Special Olympics, and got 65 riders to participate. This year, 800 have signed up.

Mazzuola quickly adopted Buzz's family as her own, and she refers to her "children," not her "step-children."

But then Buzz was diagnosed with cancer and died all too soon in 2005.

Two-and-a-half years later, Mazzuola's voice still falters when she mentions his death, and she fights to hold back the tears filling her eyes. His pictures still sit on her desk, and she still wears her gold wedding ring.

She is determined to keep the Unsung Heroes movement going in his honor, and has organized a concert for this Friday in Stockton featuring country singer Collin Raye.

When it comes to the Special Olympics, she is a force to be reckoned with, said Chief Investigator Larry Ferrari.

"She got even the most cynical, lazy people involved," he said, adding that 90 percent of the employees in the investigations office now contribute to the cause.

Her husband's premature death made Mazzuola consider her 88-year-old mother in Tennessee, who is not in the best of health.

"It made me aware of what I should prioritize — family," she said.

And so Mazzuola will soon pack up her office on the fourth floor of a downtown Stockton building. She'll box up the FBI awards and the photos of her grandchildren. She'll take down the "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God" bumper sticker and the Southern flag with the line, "Heritage, not hate."

Then she'll go home to Tennessee, where Ferrari and Willett both suspect she will soon be doing large-scale charity work. As Willett put it, she's so good at fundraising because it's just too hard to say "no" to Betsy Mazzuola.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.