MIRAMAR, Fla. – As a group of police officers are awaiting trial, a series of videos helped investigators put together the timeline of a police shootout gone wrong after a chase from Miami-Dade to Broward County in 2019.
Four died after the Dec. 5, 2019 police shooting: Two felons, Ronnie Hill and Lamar Alexander; Frank Ordóñez, a kidnapping victim; and Richard Cutshaw, an innocent bystander.
Surveillance video shows how it all started with Hill, 41, armed and storming into the Regent Jewelers on Miracle Mile at LeJeune Road in Coral Gables during a burglary.
Surveillance video shows Ordóñez, 27, a father of two, working as a UPS driver. At about 4:35 p.m., Hill and Alexander, 41, took him hostage and drove the UPS truck to Miramar Parkway.
Hill was wounded during the burglary. The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Broward State Attorney investigated the fatal police shooting after 5:35 p.m.
According to the FDLE, 20 police officers from four agencies fired more than 200 rounds near Flamingo Road. Cutshaw, 70, was shot in the head while in his 2009 Grand Marqui.
The FDLE turned over findings to the Broward SAO on Sept. 15, 2021. Prosecutors charged four police officers.
According to investigators, Richard Santiesteban was accused of firing nearly 45 times — striking Ordóñez twice.
Investigators believe Rodolfo Mirabal and Jose Mateo both fired about 20 times each and both struck Ordóñez once.
Leslie Lee was accused of firing more than five times and also striking Ordóñez once.
The four pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges in July.
Local 10 Archives
THE FLORIDA FILES: “POLICE SHOOTOUT GONE WRONG”