4 MDPD officers expected to be indicted in 2019 shootout death of UPS driver

MIAMI – The Miami-Dade Police Department said Monday that it expected four of their officers to be indicted by a grand jury in the fatal shooting of a UPS driver and a bystander during a shootout in 2019.

The UPS driver, Frank Ordonez, 27, died in a confrontation between police and two carjackers. The shootout broke out in the middle of busy road in the city of Miramar, in Broward County.

On Dec. 5, 2019, Ordonez was taken hostage by two men, Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Jerome Hill, who stole his truck after robbing a Coral Gables jewelry store. They led police on a high-speed chase from Miami-Dade County into Broward County.

The pursuit ended when the UPS truck encountered heavy traffic at an intersection on Miramar Parkway.

Police got out of their vehicles and approached the truck with their weapons drawn, using bystanders’ vehicles as cover.

Seconds later, a barrage of gunshots rang out. A total of 20 officers, from different agencies, fired into the carjacked UPS truck. More than three dozen rounds were fired.

The suspects, Alexander and Hill were killed, along with Ordonez and a bystander, Richard Cutshaw.  

Ordonez’s family wants the officers involved to be held responsible.

“Justice right now is not in our vocabulary because we lost a civil suit and appeal… and we are waiting on a grand jury that hasn’t given us a date. So, there’s no justice, as far as we’re concerned,” said Joe Merino, Ordonez’s stepfather.

The Police Benevolent Association released a statement on Monday saying it was “extremely disappointed that after almost five years, these officers are finding themselves indicted for something they had seconds to decide.”

“It sends a chilling effect to officers in Broward County, that their state attorney’s office prosecutes one officer for not responding an active shooter and now indicting officers for responding to active shooters,” the statement continues. “As the process moves forward, we will monitor it and defend our officers.”

The officers expected to be named in the indictment have not yet been identified.

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