The six bullets that killed a carjacked UPS truck driver and a bystander stuck in traffic in a busy Broward intersection came from guns fired by four Miami-Dade police officers, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s investigative summary report.
The document, obtained by the Miami Herald Thursday, outlines the events leading up to the Dec. 5, 2019, shooting, which began with a jewelry heist in Coral Gables and led to the hijacked UPS truck and a high-speed chase that ran up Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 75.
The report ties the bullets to Miami-Dade police officers Jose Mateo, 32, Rodolfo Mirabal, 39, Richard Santiesteban, 33, and Leslie Lee, 57. The officers, who were indicted in Broward on manslaughter charges in June, have pleaded not guilty.
Frank Ordóñez, the UPS driver and a 27-year-old father of two, and Rick Cutshaw, a 70-year-old union worker, were fatally struck by the hail of bullets fired in a packed intersection during the 5 p.m. rush hour at Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road in southern Broward County.
The four fired nearly 90 bullets in the raging gun battle, which involved more than a dozen police officers from four agencies and was filmed live by news choppers.
Five bullets were uncovered during Ordóñez’s autopsy. Two were linked back to Santiesteban, and the rest to Lee, Mateo and Mirabal, according to the FDLE report.
A single bullet was recovered during Cutshaw’s autopsy. That one was tied to Mirabal, the report states.
The report also concludes that Santiesteban fired up to 44 rounds; Mirabal up to 19; Mateo up to 18 and Lee up to six. A total of 20 Miami-Dade officers, three Miramar officers, one Pembroke Pines officer and one Florida Highway Patrol trooper were involved in shootout.
The events leading up the shooting began earlier that day when two men robbed Regent Jewelers on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and hijacked the UPS truck driven by Ordóñez. That ignited the high-speed interstate chase — up Florida’s Turnpike, Okeechobee Road, Interstate 75 and the streets of Pembroke Pines — before ending in the gunfight that killed the two innocent men as well as robbery suspects Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill.
More details emerge
Documenting the bullets and their trajectories, FDLE investigators found nine from Santiesteban’s gun and one from Lee’s weapon inside the UPS truck, according to the report.
Some fired by Mirabal also struck two vehicles, hitting a dashboard and a car seat, the report states. Four others from Mateo’s weapon reached the rear bumper of another vehicle.
Body camera footage also shed more light on the officers’ response that fateful day.
Mirabal, investigators say, stopped his cruiser behind the passenger side of the UPS truck, opened the driver’s door and shot toward the truck. He stopped firing and placed his car in park — but then continued to shoot.
Mateo, the report states, exited his car and walked toward the passenger side of the UPS truck, shooting. On police radio, Santiesteban reported that shots were fired at the officers from the driver’s side of the truck. The footage, the report says, captured Santiesteban hopping out of his vehicle and continuously firing.
He also told a sergeant on camera that he had fired his weapon.
In December 2019, Lee identified himself to FDLE investigators as a witness, according to the report. He said, in a voluntary sworn statement, that he observed multiple officers shooting — and no one from the UPS truck returning fire.
Lee also stated that he hadn’t fired his weapon at any time that day.
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