BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — A police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in connection with a 2019 shootout in Miramar that left a UPS employee and another victim dead.
Jose Mateo was charged with manslaughter in the death of UPS employee Frank Ordonez, but a Broward County judge cleared him of wrongdoing Thursday morning, citing Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
Body-worn camera footage that was played in court during a stand your ground hearing for Mateo shows the officer’s pursuit of the UPS truck as his partner is in the passenger seat with his long gun drawn.
The video then shows the moment Mateo approaches the armed subjects inside the UPS truck, opening fire and emptying his clip, reloading, and then pulling Ordonez’s body away from the vehicle.
This happened while Mateo was serving as an officer with what was then the Miami-Dade Police Department. He is currently suspended.
In court earlier this month, rideshare passenger Jahrue Lyttle testified to seeing shots fired from the UPS truck first.
His driver, state witness Deverne Donovan, testified the complete opposite, saying it was officers who fired first.
Ordonez and another innocent driver, Rick Cutshaw, lost their lives during the hail of gunfire after 20 officers opened fire on suspects Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Hill after investigators said they robbed a Coral Gables jewelry store.
It was a pursuit and shootout that has been described by responding officers as fluid, where they were forced to make split second decisions, while the state argued that at times, they didn’t follow policy.
Prosecutors had said the “stand your ground” statute does not apply because Mateo and three other officers — Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban, and Leslie Lee — were not standing their ground against the unintended victims.
Other officers charged in the shootout are expected to file their own stand your ground motions in the case.
Mirabal is the only one charged in the death of Cutshaw.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Broward State Attorney’s Office said that prosecutors intend to appeal the ruling.
“Immunity from prosecution is not the same as a defense presented to a jury from this community. It is our belief that Stand Your Ground immunity does not apply in matters involving innocent bystanders, like Frank Ordonez and Richard Cutshaw, who presented no danger to officers. In this incident, two innocent men were killed and the lives of numerous other innocent bystanders were endangered.
“We plan to appeal this ruling. The cases against the other three officers will move forward while this appeal is underway.”
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