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Bullets That Killed UPS Driver and Bystander Came from Miami-Dade Police Officers' Guns, Report Finds
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement report has found that four Miami-Dade police officers fired the bullets that killed a carjacked UPS truck driver and a bystander in a 2019 shootout, leading to manslaughter charges against the officers.
Delivery truck, delivery, us postal service, and mail by Trinity Nguyen (@trinwin) (Unsplash).
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigative summary report has revealed that the six bullets that killed a carjacked UPS truck driver and a bystander stuck in traffic in a busy Broward intersection came from guns fired by four Miami-Dade police officers. The report, obtained by the Miami Herald, outlines the events leading up to the December 5, 2019, shooting, which began with a jewelry heist in Coral Gables and led to a high-speed chase and a raging gun battle involving more than a dozen police officers from four agencies.
The report ties the bullets to Miami-Dade police officers Jose Mateo, 32, Rodolfo Mirabal, 39, Richard Santiesteban, 33, and Leslie Lee, 57, who were indicted in Broward on manslaughter charges in June and have pleaded not guilty. Frank Ordóñez, the 27-year-old UPS driver and father of two, and Rick Cutshaw, a 70-year-old union worker, were fatally struck by the hail of bullets fired in a packed intersection during the 5 p.m. rush hour at Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road in southern Broward County.
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The four officers fired nearly 90 bullets in the gun battle, which was filmed live by news choppers. Five bullets were uncovered during Ordóñez's autopsy, with two linked back to Santiesteban and the rest to Lee, Mateo, and Mirabal, according to the FDLE report. A single bullet was recovered during Cutshaw's autopsy, which was tied to Mirabal. The report also concludes that Santiesteban fired up to 44 rounds; Mirabal up to 19; Mateo up to 18; and Lee up to six.
The events leading up to the shooting began earlier that day when two men robbed Regent Jewelers on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and hijacked the UPS truck driven by Ordóñez. The high-speed interstate chase that followed ran up Florida's Turnpike, Okeechobee Road, Interstate 75, and the streets of Pembroke Pines before ending in the gunfight that killed the two innocent men as well as robbery suspects Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill.
FDLE investigators found nine bullets from Santiesteban's gun and one from Lee's weapon inside the UPS truck, according to the report. Some fired by Mirabal also struck two vehicles, hitting a dashboard and a car seat. Four others from Mateo's weapon reached the rear bumper of another vehicle. Body camera footage also shed more light on the officers' response that fateful day, with Mirabal stopping his cruiser behind the passenger side of the UPS truck, opening the driver's door, and shooting toward the truck. Mateo exited his car and walked toward the passenger side of the UPS truck, shooting. Santiesteban reported on police radio that shots were fired at the officers from the driver's side of the truck, and the footage captured him hopping out of his vehicle and continuously firing. Lee initially identified himself to FDLE investigators as a witness, stating that he observed multiple officers shooting and no one from the UPS truck returning fire. However, it was later found that he had fired his weapon.
