Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Four Florida police officers have been charged with manslaughter in connection with a 2019 shooting on a busy rush-hour street that left a kidnapped UPS driver and a bystander in a nearby car dead. .
A grand jury indicted Miami-Dade County Deputy Rodolfo Mirabal, 39, on two counts of manslaughter with a firearm in the Dec. 5, 2019 deaths of UPS driver Frank Ordonez, 27. , and Richard Cutshaw, 70 years old. An old union negotiator who drove nearby, Broward County prosecutors announced Saturday night.
Officers José Mateo, 32, Richard Santiesteban, 33, and Leslie Lee, 57, were charged with firearm manslaughter in connection with Ordóñez’s death. They are not charged in Cutshaw’s death.
Neither officer is charged with the deaths of the kidnappers, cousins Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill, 41.
Mateo and Mirabal are still employed by Miami-Dade police. Lee retired three years ago and Santiesteban was fired, the Miami Herald reported.
Under Florida law, involuntary manslaughter is an unlawful killing committed while demonstrating “culpable negligence,” which is defined as an act that displays a “wanton or reckless disregard for human life.”
The officers face a maximum sentence of 30 years if convicted, but as first-time offenders that would be unlikely.
The four turned themselves in to the Broward Sheriff’s Office on Friday and Saturday and were released without bail.
The indictments were issued more than a week ago, but were kept secret until officers surrendered. News of the allegations leaked Monday night.
The allegations come after a four-year investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The shooting occurred during rush hour on a major street in suburban Fort Lauderdale after a lengthy chase by multiple law enforcement agencies. About 20 law enforcement officers were present, although it is unknown how many opened fire on the kidnappers, who had been shooting at the officers throughout the chase.
Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said in a statement that the state’s lengthy investigation and months-long grand jury proceedings were necessary “to ensure we get answers for the victims’ families and the community.”
“Deciding whether to use deadly force is one of the most serious and consequential decisions a police officer can make,” Pryor said. “We understand that these decisions are often made under intense and uncertain circumstances.”
Pryor and his prosecutors did not say in their statement or in available court documents how the actions of the accused officers were different from those of the others. They declined to comment further Sunday.
Lawyers for the agents are not listed in court records.
The South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the officers’ union, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email early Sunday seeking comment. The union previously issued a statement criticizing the allegations.
“We are very disappointed that after almost five years, these officers find themselves accused of something they had seconds to decide. It sends a chilling effect to Broward County deputies,” union president Steadman Stahl said in a statement last week.
Miami-Dade police also did not immediately respond to a phone message early Sunday. The department previously issued a statement saying it “respects the legal process.”
The tragedy began when Alexander and Hill robbed the Regent Jewelers store in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables. When officers arrived, shots were being fired inside the store. A store worker was hit in the head but survived.
The thieves fled and kidnapped Ordóñez, who was delivering packages nearby.
They led deputies on a long chase into southern Broward County, running red lights and narrowly avoiding accidents. The chase attracted television news helicopters, which began broadcasting it live nationally.
The kidnappers fired shots from inside the van, which eventually stopped in the center lane of a busy intersection, trapped behind a wall of vehicles at a red light.
Witnesses said gunfire suddenly erupted as officers ran between cars toward the van. Ordóñez, Alexander and Hill died inside the truck. Cutshaw was found dead in his car. Investigators have not said whether Ordóñez and Cutshaw were shot by police, robbers or both.
Police experts said in 2019 that officers were in a difficult situation. Apparently the robbers were shooting from the truck, endangering the officers, Ordóñez, nearby drivers and their passengers. Experts said officers had to restrain the robbers in the van so they couldn’t run to another vehicle and take new hostages.
It is very unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged with an on-duty murder, as it has only happened three times in the last 40 years. Still, only one of those agents has been convicted.
Three police officers from the Panhandle city of Crestview are awaiting trial on manslaughter charges in the 2021 death of Calvin Wilks Jr., who died after he was allegedly shocked with a stun gun. Those agents, who have pleaded not guilty, are awaiting trial.
Former Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder for the 2015 shooting of Corey Jones, whose SUV broke down on an off-ramp. of an interstate highway.
Raja, who was working undercover and in plain clothes, never identified himself as a police officer when he approached Jones and began yelling at him, an audio recording showed. Jones, fearing he was being robbed, pulled out his licensed pistol and tried to flee. Raja chased him down and killed him, trial testimony showed.
A Broward sheriff’s deputy was charged with manslaughter in the 2014 shooting death of a man carrying an air rifle he had just purchased. The officers yelled at Jermaine McBean, who turned and was shot by Officer Peter Peraza. A judge later dismissed the manslaughter charge.
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