Home Scandal and Gossip UPS driver killed in 200 round Florida shootout that killed four i’d

UPS driver killed in 200 round Florida shootout that killed four i’d

Christopher Koulouris: About author bio at bottom of article.
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Frank Ordoñez UPS driver
Pictured, Frank Ordoñez UPS driver with his young infant daughter.
Frank Ordoñez UPS driver
Pictured, Frank Ordoñez UPS driver with his young infant daughter.

Frank Ordoñez UPS driver identified as one of four fatalities in Miramar shootout that led to shooting death of innocent bystander, 5 year veteran employee & two jewelry thieves.

The driver of the South Florida hijacked UPS truck who was killed in a shootout following a two-county police chase has been identified. The revelation follows an attempted jewelry heist going horribly wrong, leading to the eventual death of the two jewelry hijackers, an innocent bystander and a UPS employee who had started his first day working as a driver for his employer. 

Frank Ordoñez, 27, of Hialeah who’d worked for UPS for five years was a father of two young daughters, a 3 year old and a 6 year old according to family and relatives. The man’s death follows what he presumed would be an uneventful day delivering parcels. Except it wasn’t.

Miramar shootout suspects I’d: Long history of criminal violence

Failed jewelry heist turns into 23 mile police chase:

Pandemonium came to the fore when two armed jewelry thieves just on 4pm entered Regent Jeweler’s store on the Miracle Mile of Coral Gables, on the outskirts of Miami WPLG reports.

After entering the store, employees set off a silent alarm which alerted police who were on the scene within a minute and a half.

But by that time, the robbers and the store owner had exchanged gunfire, with one female employee shot in the head by a ricocheting bullet fired by one of the assailants. She is in a stable condition.

The jewel thieves then fled in their U-Haul van but ditched it a mile away before abducting a UPS delivery truck as driven by Ordonez. From there the bandits led cops on a high-speed 25-mile pursuit only for the vehicle to get stuck in traffic along Miramar Parkway near Flamingo Road. 

As many as 19 officers descended on the truck, spraying the vehicle with more than 200 rounds, as the bandits refused to yield and began firing at police a source told WFOR. 

Family and friends react: 

By the end, some one and half hours after it all began, Ordonzez was dead along with his would be abductors, as well as that of a bystander who was in an idle car near the mayhem as the wild chase came to an end on a busy highway.

Come Friday, the innocent motorist killed in a hail of bullets was identified as 70 year old Pembroke Pines man, Richard Cutshaw.

To date, authorities have yet to publicly release the identities of the jewel thieves.

A coworker said that Thursday had been Ordonez’s first day as a driver after having completed his training as a driver. The coworker said Ordonez had been excited about starting his new position as a driver. Ironically, Ordonez was covering for someone else’s route when two robbery suspects took over his truck. 

Disconcerting family members was the degree of violence exhibited.

The police response to the hijacking was ‘insane,’ the victim’s brother, Luis Ordonez told AP.

‘Instead of talking to them, they just started shooting,’ he continued. ‘I know they [the robbery suspects] were shooting back at them, but it was easy to just cover behind police cars. They could have just covered themselves.’

Ordonez’s stepfather, Joe Merino, said he was watching the pursuit on television with other family members and didn’t realize his son was in the truck.

‘It was hard for me to swallow, a real hard pill to swallow,’ Merino told NBC Miami.

Merino said his son normally worked a route in Coconut Grove and it was his first day working by himself on the route in Coral Gables.

Authorities have yet to clarify whether Ordonez and the innocent bystander were killed as a result of a barrage of police bullets.

‘It is very, very early on in the investigation and it would be completely inappropriate to discuss that,’ FBI Special Agent in Charge, George Piro told reporters during a Friday press corps meeting.

Answers sought as investigators seek answers: 

‘This is what dangerous people do to get away,’ Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said at a news conference. ‘And this is what people will do to avoid capture.’

It remained unclear how the robbers came to target the Coral Gables store or whether they had perpetrated previous heists?

A GoFundMe page went up late Thursday to raise funds for Ordonez. It was set up by Local 804, a union that represents UPS workers in New York, to help Odonez’s family with funeral costs. As of Friday morning, $10,111 had been raised of an initial $2,000 goal. 

UPS released a statement late Thursday saying they are cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

‘We are deeply saddened to learn a UPS service provider was a victim of this senseless act of violence,’ Matt O’Connor, a UPS spokesman, said in a statement. ‘We extend our condolences to the family and friends of our employee and the other innocent victims involved in this incident.’

Welcome to a brave new ever violent America …

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