Trial date set for Miami-Dade police officers involved in Miramar shootout that killed UPS driver, three others
FORT LAUDERDALE - Three of the four Miami-Dade police officers indicted in a deadly shooting in Miramar were arraigned Monday morning.
Jose Mateo, Richard Santiesteban, Rodolfo Mirabal, and Leslie Lee are facing manslaughter charges in connection with a 2019 shootout on Miramar Parkway that left UPS driver Frank Ordonez, the two robbers who hijacked him and a nearby driver dead
The case is considered rare because it is not often that a grand jury indicts law enforcement officers.
Mateo, Santiesteban, and Mirabal were formally arraigned on Monday. All of the officers entered written not guilty pleas.
Lee's arraignment hearing was moved to July 31.
The judge, who was in contact with Lee's attorney, set a trial date for February 17.
The state will now hand over 6000 pages of evidence and hundreds of pictures to their attorneys ahead of the trial.
Steadman Stahl, the President of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said the officers are devastated.
"They're upset that they find themselves sitting on the opposite side of the table. These are trained, good police officers that are now having to defend their actions," he said.
The tragedy began when 41-year-old cousins Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill robbed the Regent Jewelers store in Coral Gables. Police said shots were being fired inside the store when officers arrived, summoned by a silent alarm. A store worker was hit in the head by a ricocheting bullet.
The robbers fled into a nearby neighborhood and hijacked UPS driver Frank Ordonez, who was delivering packages.
They led officers from multiple agencies on a long chase into southern Broward during rush-hour traffic, running red lights and narrowly avoiding crashes.
A rear door of the UPS van was partly open, as well as the driver and passenger-side doors, enabling gunfire along the way. The van finally stopped in a middle lane on Miramar Parkway just west of Flamingo Road, caught behind a wall of vehicles waiting for the light to turn green.
Gunfire suddenly erupted as officers ran between cars toward the van. Ordonez, Alexander and Hill were killed inside the van. Richard Cutshaw was fatally struck by a stray bullet as he drove nearby.
Nearly 200 rounds were exchanged between 21 officers and Alexander and Hill. The Broward State Attorney's Office said they brought the case to a grand jury because of how many bullets were discharged in the busy intersection.
Stahl said the only ones to blame are Alexander and Hill who kidnapped Ordonez and put everyone's life in danger.
"I don't know what type of message they're trying to send. Because that state attorney or that prosecutor needs to start sitting down with the police department right now saying listen, do you go after an active shooter or don't go after them?" he said.
The four officers charged face a maximum sentence of 30 years if convicted, though that is an unlikely scenario since this is their first offense.