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On Dec. 5, 2019, a vehicle that looked like a crime scene, a UPS delivery truck, was hijacked following a robbery in Coral Gables, followed by a shootout between Flamingo Road and Miramar Avenue.
ctrainor@miamiherald.com
A grand jury indicted four Miami-Dade police officers facing manslaughter charges in a 2019 shootout that left an abducted UPS driver and a trapped bystander dead, prosecutors announced Saturday.
“Given the severity of this shooting incident, which occurred at an extremely busy intersection filled with civilian drivers and pedestrians, we presented the agencies’ findings to the grand jury,” Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor said in a statement.
The state attorney’s office said a Broward County grand jury indicted the four officers on June 6 after hearing months of evidence. The officers turned themselves in at the Broward Main Jail on Friday and Saturday.
Rodolfo Mirabal, 39, was charged with two counts of manslaughter with a firearm for the shootings that left Frank Ordoñez, 27, a UPS driver who had been kidnapped, and Richard Cutshaw, 70, a motorist who was stuck in a traffic jam.
Jose Mateo, 32, Richard Santiesteban, 33, and Leslie Lee, 57, are each charged with one count of manslaughter with a firearm in the killing of Ordonez.
“The decision whether to use deadly force is one of the most serious and important decisions a police officer can make,” Pryor said. “We know these decisions are often made in tense and uncertain circumstances.”
The four were released on court order. If found guilty, they could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, though first-time offenders could receive a shorter sentence.
Two of the officers, Mateo and Mirabal, are still employed by the Miami-Dade Police Department and were part of the priority response team at the time of the shooting, according to personnel records.
Sources told the Miami Herald that Lee retired in late 2021 and worked on the special response team, records show.
Santisteban was fired in June before he was charged. He was a member of the robbery intervention team.
“While this process has been lengthy, we believe the grand jury is necessary to ensure we get answers for the victims’ families and the community,” Pryor said. “This is all done with the pursuit of justice in mind. The indictment speaks for itself, and any further comment will be made through the court process, which is our policy.”
Bullet hail
In December 2019, a jewelry robbery turned into a high-speed police chase and culminated in a massive shootout at a crowded intersection involving more than a dozen officers from at least three agencies.
The incident began when Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill hijacked a UPS truck in Coral Gables. Ordonez, a UPS driver and father of two, was still in the vehicle when interstate police began a pursuit.
It ended in a gunfight Ordonez and two suspected robbers were shot dead at Miramar Boulevard and Flamingo Road — an intersection packed with vehicles. Rick Cutshaw, a 70-year-old local union worker who was stuck in traffic, was also shot dead.
Read more: Three years later, family still doesn’t know who killed loved ones in UPS holdup shootout
Ordonez’s family is still trying to come to terms with his death. His stepfather, Joe Merino, told the Herald that what they want most is for someone to be held accountable.
“This is what we have been asking for four and a half years,” Merino said. “Only justice.”
Miami Herald reporters Grethel Aguila and Charles Rabin contributed to this report.
This article was originally published on June 15, 2024, 9:02 pm.
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Miami Herald police and breaking news reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a wide range of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was part of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning breaking news team. A graduate of the University of Florida, he was born and raised in Miami-Dade. In and out of the office, he thinks about theme parks, movies, and cars.
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