State ends case against 3 officers in deadly Miramar UPS hijacking shootout
Broward County prosecutors have ended their manslaughter prosecution of three of the four Miami-Dade police officers charged in the fatal 2019 shootout on Miramar Parkway.
Prosecutors voluntarily dismissed appeals they filed in April challenging a Broward judge’s decision to grant the officers “Stand Your Ground” immunity because they feared for their lives.
The “Stand Your Ground” defense emerged when video evidence revealed the suspects opened fire first as police surrounded them inside the UPS truck at the Miramar Parkway-Flamingo Road intersection.
However, the appeal against a fourth officer whose bullet killed a bystander is pending, Broward State Attorney’s Office spokewoman Paula McMahon told the Miramar News on Wednesday, May 27.
The four were among scores of law enforcement officers who chased two jewelry store robbers who had hijacked a UPS driver in Coral Gables and led police on a wild chase that ended at the busy intersection.
Hundreds of bullets were fired.
Killed were UPS driver Frank Ordonez, 27, of Miami, and motorist Richard Cutshaw, 70, of Pembroke Pines, who was stopped in traffic in his car near the UPS truck.
The four officers originally faced manslaughter charges stemming from the shootout deaths of innocent bystanders.
The decision officially ends the manslaughter prosecutions against officers Jose Mateo, Richard Santiesteban and Leslie Lee.
In 2024, a Broward County grand jury issued indictments charging Rodolfo Mirabal with two counts of manslaughter with a firearm, and charging Mateo, Santiesteban and Lee on one count of manslaughter with a firearm.
In 2025, Broward County Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra ruled that Mateo was “justified” in using deadly force and supported the application of immunity under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
In April, Kollra granted the same protection to Lee and Santiesteban.
Mirabal’s case remains under appeal. Testimony revealed a bullet fired from Mirabal’s service weapon struck and killed Cutshaw.
