4 officers arrested after fatal 2019 police shooting – NBC 6 South Florida

Four Miami-Dade County officers involved in a 2019 shootout with robbery suspects in Miramar that left an innocent UPS driver and a bystander dead have been arrested, NBC6 found through court documents and booking information.

Richard Santiesteban, Rodolfo Mirabal, Jose Mateo and Leslie Lee were all charged in an incident that occurred on Dec. 5, 2019, the same date as the shooting, according to the Broward County Clerk of Court website. Their cases are companion cases, meaning they stem from the same incident.

According to court documents, Santiesteban, Mirabal and Mateo were arrested on Friday, while Lee was arrested on Saturday.

Steadman Stahl, president of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association (PBA), told NBC6 on Saturday that all four officers turned themselves in and have since been released. He also expressed disappointment with the charges, adding that the PBA will provide attorneys and support the officers during the legal process.

Court documents for Santiesteban, Mirabal, Mateo and Lee list the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the organization that files criminal charges against police officers, as the prosecuting agency in their cases.

The documents also refer to a grand jury indictment, consistent with the Broward State Attorney’s Office’s statement that the officers’ cases would be tried before a grand jury.

The charges against the men also match information from a source who said three officers are accused of manslaughter and the fourth of double manslaughter.

Santiesteban, Mateo and Lee are each charged with manslaughter, while Mirabal faces two counts for allegedly causing the deaths of both the UPS driver and the innocent driver of a nearby car.

The Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association (PBA) confirmed earlier this week that four county police officers have been charged in connection with the 2019 chase and shooting. The incident began in Coral Gables when armed robbers took a UPS driver hostage, according to police, then led officers on a chase into Broward.

When the truck stopped at a traffic light near Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road, the suspects opened fire on officers and police fired back, officials said.

UPS driver Frank Ordonez and an innocent bystander in his car, Richard Cutshaw, were killed in the crossfire.

The entire incident was captured on camera.

Ordonez’s relatives said the years since his death felt like an eternity.

“It’s been a long four years of suffering and waiting and waiting. More than four years of grief,” said Joe Merino, Ordonez’s stepfather. “We miss him. We all miss him. We miss him not being here anymore.”

“I just hope there is justice. I really hope so,” said Ordonez’s sister Genevie Merino. “We all want closure and peace. We didn’t get that.”

Meanwhile, the Miami-Dade PBA said in a statement on June 10, “We are extremely disappointed that after nearly five years, these officers are now being charged for something they could have decided on in seconds… It has a chilling effect on officers in Broward County that the District Attorney’s Office charged an officer for failing to respond to a shooting spree and is now charging officers for responding to shooting sprees. As the trial moves forward, we will be watching it and defending our officers.”