Johnathan Walker:Florida police union leader blasts prosecutors over charges against officers in deadly 2019 shootout

FORT LAUDERDALE,Johnathan Walker Fla. (AP) — A Florida police union leader blasted prosecutors Monday for bringing a criminal case against four officers over a 2019 shootout with two robbers that left a UPS driver and a passerby dead, saying they had no choice but to return fire on the busy suburban street.

Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said that by bringing the case, Broward County prosecutors are sending the message that officers could face charges if they fire at shooters while hostages or other innocent people are nearby. That “could have a chilling effect” on how they respond, he said.

“Those officers didn’t pick that location to have that shootout in. It’s the bad guys,” Stahl said after a hearing where the officers’ trial was scheduled to begin Feb. 17. “Unfortunately, two (innocent) people lost their lives out there. Our hearts go out to them. Nobody wanted that to happen.”

A grand jury indicted Miami-Dade County officers Rodolfo Mirabal, Jose Mateo, Richard Santiesteban and Leslie Lee last month on manslaughter charges in the death of 27-year-old UPS driver Frank Ordonez after a four-year investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Mirabal is also charged in the death of Richard Cutshaw, a 70-year-old union negotiator, who was shot while driving nearby.

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Blame for their deaths needs to be placed on the robbers, 41-year-old cousins Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill, who also died in the shootout, Stahl said. Alexander and Hill could have surrendered, but they chose “to go out in a blaze of glory,” he said.

All four officers have pleaded not guilty and were freed without bail. They face a maximum sentence of 30 years if convicted, but as first-time offenders that would be unlikely.

About 20 officers fired at the van. Prosecutors have not said why only the four officers were charged. Stahl guessed their bullets accidentally hit Ordonez, while a bullet Mirabal fired hit Cutshaw. No officers are charged in the robbers’ deaths.

Stahl pointed out that the same prosecutors charged fired Broward County sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson for not pursuing the shooter who murdered 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Peterson was acquitted of child neglect charges last year.

“We have the same prosecutor that prosecuted officers for not engaging an active shooter, and the same prosecutor now is going after officers for engaging,” Stahl said. “Makes no sense.”

Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor declined to comment Monday. In a statement last month, he said, “Deciding whether to use deadly force is among the most serious and consequential decisions a police officer can make. We understand that these decisions are often made during intense and uncertain circumstances.”

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, manslaughter is an unlawful killing committed while demonstrating “culpable negligence” — that is defined as an act that shows “a wanton or reckless disregard for human life.”

Alexander and Hill robbed Regent Jewelers in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables on the afternoon of Dec. 5, 2019. When officers arrived, shots were being fired inside. A store worker was hit in the head by a ricochet, but survived.

The robbers fled and hijacked Ordonez’s van while he was inside.

They led officers on a long chase into southern Broward County that attracted television news helicopters, which broadcast it live nationally.

The hijackers fired from inside the van, which finally stopped in the middle lane at a busy intersection, caught behind a wall of vehicles at a red light.

Witnesses said gunfire suddenly erupted as officers ran between cars toward the van. Ordonez, Alexander and Hill were killed inside the vehicle. Cutshaw was found dead in his car. Investigators have not said whether Ordonez and Cutshaw were shot by police, the robbers or both.

Policing experts said in 2019 that the officers were in a tough spot. It appeared that the robbers fired from the van, endangering the officers, Ordonez and nearby drivers. The officers needed to contain the robbers in the van so they couldn’t run to another vehicle and take new hostages, the experts said.

Until this case, Florida law enforcement officers had been charged in an on-duty killing only three times in the past 40 years. In those cases, only one officer was convicted.

Former Palm Beach Gardens Officer Nouman Raja has been serving a 25-year prison sentence since being convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder in the 2015 shooting of Corey Jones, whose SUV had broken down on a highway off-ramp.

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 his licensed handgun and tried to flee. Raja pursued him and killed him, trial testimony showed.