Officers indicted for 2019 shootout with robbers that killed UPS driver and passerby
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four Florida police officers have been charged with manslaughter in connection with a 2019 shooting on a busy rush-hour street, killing a hijacked UPS driver and a passerby in a nearby car.
A grand jury has indicted Miami-Dade County Officer Rodolfo Mirabal, 39, on two counts of manslaughter with a firearm in the deaths of 27-year-old UPS driver Frank Ordonez and Richard Cutshaw, a 70-year-old man, on 5 December 2019. A longtime union negotiator who was driving in the area, Broward County prosecutors announced Saturday evening.
Officers Jose Mateo, 32, Richard Santiesteban, 33, and Leslie Lee, 57, were charged with manslaughter with a firearm in connection with Ordonez’s death. They are not charged in Cutshaw’s death.
None of the officers are charged in the deaths of the hijackers, 41-year-old cousins Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill.
Mateo and Mirabal are still employed by the Miami-Dade Police Department. Lee retired three years ago and Santiesteban was fired, the Miami Herald reported.
Under Florida law, manslaughter is an unlawful killing committed while showing “culpable negligence” – which is defined as an act that shows “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 is unlikely.
The four surrendered to the Broward Sheriff’s Office on Friday and Saturday and were released without bail.
The charges were issued over a week ago but were kept secret pending the officers’ surrender. News of the charges leaked Monday evening.
The charges come after a four-year investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The gunfight took place during rush hour on a main street in suburban Fort Lauderdale, after a lengthy chase through several police stations. About 20 law enforcement officers were present, but it is not known how many of them opened fire on the hijackers, who shot at officers during the chase.
Broward State’s Attorney Harold Pryor said in a statement that the lengthy state investigation and months of 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 accusers did not say in their statement or in available court documents how the actions of the accused officers differed from those of the others. They declined further comment on Sunday.
No attorneys for the officers are listed in the lawsuits.
The South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the officers’ union, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment early Sunday. The union previously released a statement quashing the charges.
“We are extremely disappointed that after almost five years, these officers are being charged for something they only had seconds to decide. It is having a chilling effect on officers in Broward County,” union president Steadman Stahl said in a statement last week.
Miami-Dade police also did not immediately respond to a telephone message early Sunday. The department previously issued a statement saying that “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 fired inside the store. A store employee was hit in the head by a ricochet, but survived.
The robbers fled and hijacked Ordonez, who was delivering packages nearby.
They led officers on a long chase into southern Broward County, running red lights and narrowly avoiding crashes. The chase attracted television news helicopters, which began broadcasting it live nationally.
The hijackers fired from the van, which eventually stopped in the center lane at a busy intersection, behind a wall of vehicles at a red light.
Witnesses said gunfire suddenly broke out as officers ran between cars toward the van. Ordonez, Alexander and Hill were killed in the van. Cutshaw was found dead in his car. Investigators have not said whether Ordonez and Cutshaw were shot by police, the robbers or both.
Police experts said in 2019 that the officers were in a difficult situation. It appeared the robbers fired from the van, endangering the officers, Ordonez, nearby drivers and their passengers. The officers had to hold the robbers in the van so they couldn’t run to another vehicle and take new hostages, the experts said.
It is very unusual for law enforcement officers in Florida to be charged with murder while on duty, as this has only happened three times in the past four decades. Even then, only one of those officers was convicted.
Three police officers in the Panhandle town of Crestview awaiting trial on manslaughter charges for the death of Calvin Wilks Jr. in 2021, who died after they allegedly shook him with a stun gun. The officers, who have pleaded not guilty, are awaiting trial.
Former Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja is serving a 25-year prison sentence after he was convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder for the 2015 shooting of Corey Jones, whose SUV broke down on a freeway offramp.
Raja, who worked 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, drew his licensed pistol and attempted to flee. Raja chased him and killed him, according to trial testimony.
That was a deputy from Broward accused of manslaughter for the fatal 2014 shooting of a man carrying an air rifle he had just purchased. Officers yelled at Jermaine McBean, who turned and was shot by Deputy Peter Peraza. A judge later dismissed the manslaughter charge.