The four Miami Dade police officers who had been accused of the death of UPS driver, Cuban Frank Ordoñez, and the driver of a private vehicle during a shootout with robbers at a jewelry store in Coral Gables on December 5, 2019, turned themselves in this Monday.
Richard Santiesteban, José Mateo, and Leslie Lee each face a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Meanwhile, Rodolfo Miramar was accused of two similar charges for the death of the Cuban Ordoñez and Richard Cutshaw, aged 70, who was driving to his home. Both were caught in the crossfire between the agents and the robbers, as reported by Telemundo 51.
The agents had been accused earlier this month, four and a half years after the armed robbery of the Regent jewelry store on Miracle Mile, and the hijacking of the UPS company truck by the robbers, events that culminated in a dramatic police chase and shootout in which two innocents and the assailants died.
The Ordóñez family filed a civil lawsuit against the authorities, but in August 2022, a judge from Broward County ruled that they did not have the right to sue due to sovereign immunity.
After learning that the four officers would be tried in a criminal process, Luz Apolinario Merino, Ordóñez's mother, stated via telephone to América TeVé: "There was no need for that to happen and for my son and that man to lose their lives...".
The distressed mother stated, "I am waiting for a conscientious trial to take place, for each judge they appoint that day to place their hand on their chest and feel the pain that I, as a mother, felt when I lost my son. I saw him die on television."
Joe Merino, Ordóñez's stepfather, told the news channel that the accusation against the police officers is "surprising after four and a half years" and stressed: "There is finally progress, I am not going to say that there is justice yet because I still don't see justice at the end of that tunnel."
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