HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – New surveillance video obtained by Local 10 News shows Hollywood police officers dragging a 69-year-old condominium owner into an elevator after shooting him last year.
David Cottes later died from his wounds and exactly what happened remains a mystery to family members.
On Feb. 26, 2022, Cottes asked neighbors to call Hollywood police, because he thought someone was breaking into his condominium at around 8 a.m.
Cottes was a longtime resident of 3505 South Ocean Drive.
“He said someone was in his apartment, in his condo, he comes out with his gun licensed to carry and everything,” Christina Cottes, David’s daughter, said.
After police arrived to the 14th floor, they shot Cottes, the condo’s board president, in the chest.
Exactly what transpired before isn’t clear, but his family says he was by the elevator and police came up the stairwell.
Christina Cottes saw the surveillance video for the first time Friday and broke into tears.
“He’s literally my best friend,” she said.
Cottes said her family needs answers.
“Why they would they treat him in such a way or drag him into an elevator, they already have him handcuffed behind his back,” she said. “He’s wounded.”
Cottes’ family says it took more than 30 minutes to get him help and they want to know why.
“He’s asking for police to help,” Christina Cottes said. “When police come to help, my dad is dead.”
They said they weren’t allowed to visit David in the hospital before he died weeks later, so he took what happened to the grave.
“It’s been a year waiting for forensic and ballistics (evidence) because they want to see who shot first,” private investigator Victor Elbeze said.
Local 10 News contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which was investigating the shooting, for comment.
On Friday, they said the case remained an active investigation.