4 Florida police officers charged in 2019 shootout with robbers that killed a UPS driver and a bystander

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Four Florida police officers have been charged with manslaughter in connection with a 2019 shooting on a busy rush hour roadway that left a kidnapped UPS driver and a bystander in a nearby car dead.

A grand jury has indicted 39-year-old Miami-Dade County police officer Rodolfo Mirabal on two counts of manslaughter with a firearm in the deaths of 27-year-old UPS driver Frank Ordonez and 70-year-old union negotiator Richard Cutshaw, who were driving nearby on Dec. 5, 2019, Broward County prosecutors announced Saturday evening.

Officers Jose Mateo, 32, Richard Santiesteban, 33, and Leslie Lee, 57, have been 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 kidnappers, 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 a wrongful death committed under the influence of “culpable negligence,” which means an act that shows “a wanton or reckless disregard for human life.”

If convicted, officers face a maximum sentence of 30 years, although this is unlikely for first-time offenders.

The four turned themselves in to the Broward Sheriff’s Office on Friday and Saturday and were released without bail.

The charges were filed more than a week ago but were kept secret until the officers surrendered. News of the charges leaked out on Monday evening.

The charges came after a four-year investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The shooting occurred during rush hour on a major road in a Fort Lauderdale suburb after a lengthy chase by multiple police agencies. About 20 police officers were present, but it is unknown how many opened fire on the hijackers, who shot at officers throughout the chase.

Broward District Attorney Harold Pryor said in a statement that the lengthy state investigation and months-long grand jury proceedings were necessary “to ensure we get answers for the victims’ families and the community.”

“The decision whether to use deadly force is one of the most serious and consequential decisions a police officer can make,” Pryor said. “We know that these decisions are often made under difficult and uncertain circumstances.”

Pryor and his prosecutors did not comment in their statement or in available court documents on how the actions of the accused officers differed from those of the others. They declined further comment Sunday.

No lawyers for the officers are listed in the court records.

The South Florida Police Benevolent Association, the police officers’ union, did not immediately respond to a call and email seeking comment early Sunday. The union had previously released a statement sharply criticizing the charges.

“We are extremely disappointed that after nearly five years, these officers are now being charged for something that took them just seconds to decide. This has 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 phone message early Sunday. The department had previously issued a statement saying it respected “the legal system.”

The tragedy began when Alexander and Hill robbed the Regent Jewelers jewelry 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 kidnapped 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 was followed by television helicopters that broadcast the chase live across the country.

The hijackers fired shots from inside the van, which eventually stopped in the middle lane of a busy intersection, trapped behind a line of vehicles at a red light.

Witnesses reported that shots suddenly rang out as officers ran between the 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 officers were in a difficult position. It appeared the robbers were firing from the van, endangering officers, Ordonez, nearby drivers and their passengers. Officers had to restrain the robbers in the van so they couldn’t run to another vehicle and take new hostages, the experts said.

It is highly unusual for police officers in Florida to be charged with a line-of-duty killing. In the last 40 years, this has only happened three times. And even then, only one of those officers was convicted.

Three police officers in the Panhandle town of Crestview are awaiting trial on manslaughter charges in connection with the 2021 death of Calvin Wilks Jr., who died after they allegedly shocked him with a stun gun. The officers, who have pleaded not guilty, are awaiting trial.

Former Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder in the 2015 shooting death of Corey Jones, whose SUV was left stranded on a freeway exit ramp.

Raja, who was undercover and in plain clothes, never identified himself as a police officer as he approached Jones and began yelling at him, according to an audio recording. Jones, fearing he was being robbed, pulled out his licensed handgun and tried to flee. Raja pursued and killed him, according to trial testimony.

A Broward sheriff’s deputy was charged with manslaughter for shooting a man carrying a newly purchased pellet gun in 2014. The deputies yelled at Jermaine McBean, who spun around and was shot by Deputy Peter Peraza. A judge later dismissed the manslaughter charge.