Union: 4 Florida police officers indicted for 2019 shootout that left UPS driver and passerby dead

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four Florida police officers have been charged in connection with a 2019 shootout on a busy street A UPS driver, the two robbers who hijacked him and a nearby driver were killed, their union confirmed Tuesday.

The South Florida Police Benevolent Association criticized the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for seeking grand jury indictments against Miami-Dade County officers. The union has not said what the officers are accused of and their names have not been released. They are expected to report next week.

“We are extremely disappointed that after nearly 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. “As the process continues, we will monitor it and defend our officers.”

Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor and his office declined Tuesday to comment on the indictment or confirm that it has been issued.

“Grand jury proceedings are secret under Florida law, and any proceedings or actions taken by a grand jury are not public until a judge so directs,” the statement said.

Miami-Dade police said they would release a statement later Tuesday.

The charges were first reported by the Miami Herald.

The tragedy began when 41-year-old cousins ​​Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill robbed the Regent Jewelers store in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables. Police said shots were fired inside the store when officers arrived, summoned by a silent alarm. A store employee was hit in the head by a ricocheting bullet.

The robbers fled to a nearby neighborhood and hijacked 27-year-old Frank Ordonez, who was delivering packages.

They led officers from multiple agencies on a lengthy chase through southern Broward County during rush hour, running red lights and narrowly avoiding accidents. The chase attracted television news helicopters, which began broadcasting it live nationally.

A rear door of the UPS van was partially open, as were the driver and passenger side doors, allowing gunfire along the way. The van eventually stopped in the center lane at a busy intersection in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Miramar, trapped behind a wall of vehicles waiting for the light to turn green.

Witnesses then told The Associated Press that gunfire suddenly broke out as officers ran between cars toward the van. Ordonez, Alexander and Hill were killed in the van. Richard Cutshaw, 70, was fatally struck by a stray bullet as he drove nearby. Investigators have not said whether Ordonez and Cutshaw were shot by police, the robbers or both.

Police experts told the AP 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 keep 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 on-duty murder; it has only happened three times in the last forty years. Even then, only one of those officers was convicted.

Three police officers in the Panhandle town of Crestview awaiting trial on manslaughter charges in 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.