2 Hialeah police officers accused of beating handcuffed homeless man until he was unconscious

HIALEAH, Fla. – Two Hialeah cops and a civilian are being charged after a homeless man was handcuffed and overwhelmed unconscious final month, Miami-Dade State Legal professional Katherine Fernandez Rundle introduced Thursday.

The state legal professional recognized the officers as Rafael Quinos Otano, 27, and Lorenzo Orfila, 22.

Jail information present Otano is charged with kidnapping by a regulation enforcement officer and battery.

Orfila is dealing with the identical expenses, along with a cost of official misconduct by a public servant.

The third suspect, Ali Amin Saleh, has been charged with witness tampering.

Based on Fernandez Rundle, the incident started round 5:13 p.m. on Dec. 17 when the officers have been dispatched to Los Tres Conejitos bakery at 1912 W. sixtieth St. relating to a disturbance.

She mentioned the sufferer, Jose Ortega Gutierrez, 50, who’s homeless, is thought to wander across the procuring plaza.

When the places of work arrived, Orfila handcuffed the sufferer and positioned him at the back of his patrol automotive, she mentioned.

She mentioned the officers then drove him to an remoted space off Northwest 97th Avenue and 174th Road, which is out of their sector, and beat him till he was unconscious.

The sufferer instructed detectives that he wakened alone in the identical space and was not handcuffed. He then started strolling south on 97th Avenue and encountered an off-duty Hialeah police officer who was strolling his canine and who known as 911.

Based on the state legal professional, Orfila later inquired concerning the sufferer’s situation to a different officer and requested that officer to mark the decision down as a “no report.” The officer didn’t adjust to that request, she mentioned.

Twelve days after the incident, the sufferer notified detectives that he was approached by Saleh, who he has seen earlier than, and who requested him to signal an affidavit in English and Spanish about his encounter with the officers. The sufferer mentioned Saleh instructed him he would give him $1,200 in trade and it will be straightforward cash for him.

The sufferer, who the state legal professional says doesn’t know easy methods to learn in English or Spanish, signed the affidavit as a result of he was homeless and wanted the cash.

Based on Fernandez Rundle, the affidavit said that the sufferer had been arrested for public consuming and was not overwhelmed by the officers. It was additionally notarized, however the notory admitted that they notarized the affidavit as a favor to Saleh with out the sufferer being current, she mentioned.

The officers are additionally accused of failing to activate their body-worn cameras all through the complete encounter with the sufferer, nonetheless Fernandez Rundle mentioned surveillance video exhibits that the sufferer didn’t do something that he ought to have been arrested for that day and surveillance video additionally corroborated his declare about Saleh approaching him.

The state legal professional mentioned the three males, who have been taken into custody Thursday morning, face non-bondable expenses.

“We won’t permit rouge cops to abuse their powers,” she mentioned.

Ofila, who has been with the division for 3 years, and Otano, who has been employed for 5 years, have been each fired Thursday morning by the Hialeah mayor, Chief of Police George Fuente confirmed.

He mentioned each have had minor disciplinary points prior to now.

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