A Broward Judge has thrown out a manslaughter charge against a Miami-Dade police officer involved in a chaotic 2019 shootout that killed a kidnapped UPS driver, ruling that Florida’s “stand your ground” law shields him from prosecution.
Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra[1] dismissed the case against Officer Jose Mateo, 33, who was indicted with three colleagues after a harrowing gun battle that left 27-year-old Frank Ordoñez, a UPS driver taken hostage during a jewelry store robbery, dead in the crossfire.
Kollra’s order marks a rare application of Florida’s expansive self-defense statute to a law enforcement officer.
The ruling followed weeks of testimony from bystanders, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigators and other law enforcement officials.
Kollra concluded the state had failed to prove “by clear and convincing evidence” that Mateo did not reasonably believe deadly force was necessary “to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another.”
More than 200 rounds were fired in broad daylight on Miramar Parkway during rush-hour traffic, when officers from four agencies converged on a hijacked UPS truck after a cross-county chase.
Seventy-year-old motorist Richard Cutshaw also died by police gunfire that day.
Prosecutors charged[2] Mateo and Miami-Dade officers Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban and Leslie Lee in June 2024 with manslaughter over Ordoñez’s death.
The move came after a grand jury heard evidence[3] over several months and the FDLE and FBI completed investigations into the matter.
No officers were charged in Cutshaw’s killing or for the deaths of robbers Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill, who committed a jewelry heist in Coral Gables before leading police on a high-speed chase and dying by police gunfire in Broward County.
Video footage[4] of the incident, shared widely by local and national media, shows officers flanking the UPS truck, using civilians’ cars for cover and firing shots at the vehicle, which became trapped on the roadway after running into congested traffic.
The FDLE later determined the bullets that struck Ordoñez came from multiple officers’ weapons[5].
Kollra’s decision leaves open the possibility that the other officers may also invoke stand-your-ground immunity. As of Thursday, when the Judge handed down his ruling, their cases remain pending.
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References
- ^ Ernest Kollra (ballotpedia.org)
- ^ Prosecutors charged (browardsao.com)
- ^ grand jury heard evidence (browardsao.com)
- ^ Video footage (youtu.be)
- ^ came from multiple officers’ weapons (www.nbcmiami.com)