MIAMI – On Tuesday evening, a Miami-Dade jury identified ex-Hialeah police officer Rafael Otano guilty of kidnapping, but not responsible of battery of a homeless male.
Otano, 27, is one particular of two previous Hialeah Law enforcement Department officers who were accused of beating a homeless male and then making an attempt to go over it up.
The previous officer experienced been in the section for three decades right before he was terminated from the occupation.
Otano was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs to the screams of a family member.
He will deal with sentencing at a later date.
Otano and Lorenzo Orfila, 23, a five-12 months member of the force, had been arrested following they allegedly responded to a nuisance call on Dec. 17, 2022, about a person explained to be harassing organizations and patrons at a Hialeah searching plaza located at W. 19th Avenue and 60th Avenue.
That person, determined as Jose Ortega Gutierrez, 51, was taken into custody and in its place of being transported to the county jail, prosecutors mentioned the younger officers took the person to a dump site prior to beating him and abandoning him.
An off-responsibility law enforcement detective just took place to cross paths in the detective’s north Hialeah community with Gutierrez many hrs following the incident and termed police.
“He experienced a lower or laceration on prime of his head,” stated the detective, testifying with a issue that he not be publicly recognized. “His encounter appeared swollen and bruised. His garments seemed torn and he appeared intoxicated.”
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