MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Two former Hialeah police officers are under house arrest.
They are accused of kidnapping and beating a homeless man.
The case is far from finished, but the former officers are out of jail, now on house arrest.
Police body camera footage is at the center of the kidnapping case.
Prosecutors say Jose Ortega Gutierrez was beat up by Rafael Otano and Lorenzo Orfila.
The two answered a disturbance call at a Hialeah bakery, taking Gutierrez into custody.
But GPS data reveals the squad car driving to an isolated area where the beating allegedly took place while Gutierrez was handcuffed, before he was left.
“If I had drugs, if I had this or that, tell me. But I don’t have anything. Why would you hit me? And they just left me there like a dog,” Gutierrez said in court. "
During the hearing, defense attorneys pointed to a lack of credibility, criminal history, and inconsistent statements.
The victim, who is homeless, is known to police.
Those former officers are not the only ones charged in this case.
A man named Ali Saleh is accused of bribing the victim to change his story, and a fourth man is accused of notarizing the paperwork
The four men were given a bond, pending trial.
Local 10 News briefly spoke to Orfila’s mother who stood up for her son, saying he would not be so cruel.
Local 10 News’ cameras captured Orfila ducking into his home Monday as he began house arrest.
The prosecution and defense are now in preparations for the pending trial.