Fort Lauderdale, Florida– A South Florida judge on Monday acquitted three more police officers of wrongdoing in the shooting that left a man dead. The UPS driver who was taken hostage During a 2019 robbery.
Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Culra ruled that Miami-Dade police officers Richard Santisteban, Leslie Lee, and Rodolfo Mirabal — who were charged with manslaughter in the death of UPS driver Frank Ordonez — could not be prosecuted because Florida’s “stand your ground” law justified the shooting. The same judge acquitted the officer Jose Mateo In September for the same reason.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office said it would appeal the four convictions.
“Immunity from prosecution is not the same as a defense presented before a jury from this community,” the prosecutor’s statement said. “We believe that ‘stand your ground’ immunity does not apply to matters involving innocent bystanders, such as Frank Ordonez and Richard Cutshaw, who posed no danger to officers. In this incident, two innocent men were killed, and the lives of many other innocent bystanders were put in danger.”
Kacho was also killed in a hail of gunfire that afternoon.
Ordonez, 27, was delivering packages in Miami-Dade County on Dec. 5, 2019, when police said two would-be jewelry store robbers kidnapped him and forced him to drive from the scene. A rush-hour police chase ended at a busy intersection in neighboring Broward County.
Prosecutors said Mateo fired the shots that killed Ordonez. The two robbers and a bystander were also killed in a hail of gunfire at an intersection in Miramar, Florida.
Body camera footage played in court showed Mateo chasing the UPS truck that afternoon. His accomplice can be seen in the passenger seat holding a long gun. The video also showed Mateo approaching the UPS truck. He emptied his firearm’s magazine, reloaded it, and then removed Ordonez from the vehicle.
The judge ruled that the officers had reason to believe deadly force was necessary to end the confrontation.
The four officers are currently suspended from their jobs.