Judge grants bail for Hialeah cops accused of beating homeless man — and covering it up
The Hialeah police officer duo accused of beating a homeless man and trying to cover it up will be leaving jail soon.
After five days of hearings, Judge Robert Watson granted Rafael Quinones Otano, 27, a bond of $10,000 under standard house arrest and Lorenzo Rafael Orfila, 23, a bond of $20,000 under total lockdown house arrest. Facing potential life sentences if convicted, they were initially denied bond after their Jan. 26 dismissal and arrests.
Otano, a six-year veteran on the police force, was charged with armed kidnapping and battery. His partner Orfila, who has been with the agency for three years, is facing charges of armed kidnapping, battery and official misconduct.
Otano’s and Orfila’s paths crossed with Jose Ortega Gutierrez’s on Dec. 17, when the pair was dispatched to Los Tres Conejitos Bakery at 1912 W. 16th St. A shopkeeper had called police complaining about a rowdy vagrant.
The encounter ended with Ortega Gutierrez knocked unconscious and dumped in a wooded area almost seven miles away. State investigators say Otano and Orfila told Ortega Gutierrez he was going to be locked up for being drunk and disorderly.
They instead drove Ortega Gutierrez — with their emergency lights flashing — to a wooded area near Northwest 94th Avenue and 174th Street, state investigators determined through GPS and surveillance video. Otano and Orfila kept no records of the transport.
READ MORE: Hialeah cops battered homeless man in the woods and tried to buy his silence, state says
During closing arguments, prosecutor Shawn Abuhoff argued that Otano and Orfila could’ve arrested Gutierrez on Dec. 17 but instead chose to kidnap and beat him — without notifying their supervisors that they had Ortega Gutierrez in their custody. Otano and Orfila also kept their body cameras shut off.
“They have shown… that they betrayed their badge,” Abuhoff said. “They betrayed their department. They’ve also betrayed the community.”
Abuhoff also addressed the victim’s checkered past, describing him as a homeless alcoholic drug dealer. State records show Ortega Gutierrez has a criminal history of mostly minor crimes like trespassing and disorderly conduct dating back 25 years. He was charged with attempted first-degree murder in 1998 and attempted second-degree murder a year later.
Ortega Gutierrez was arrested as recently as Jan. 17 for possession with intent to sell cocaine.
“There’s no running here from who the victim is,” he said. “But he’s also a person.”
Michael Pizzi, Otano’s defense attorney, cast doubt on the state’s theory that Otano aided Orfila with the kidnapping and beating. Pizzi begged the judge to set Otano’s bond at $5,000 so he can go home to his wife and family.
“They’re asking you to credit a drunken statement of a career criminal who [Otano] arrested on drug charges,” Pizzi said. “The state should’ve never charged officer Raphael Otano.”
Following the judge’s ruling, Pizzi said he was delighted that Otano will be home with his wife and baby this weekend. Pizzi told the Miami Herald that he hopes that the state will drop criminal charges against Otano. During the hearing, the judge found that the state’s proof wasn’t greater than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
“We expect that at the end of the day Raphael Otano will be completely exonerated and will get his job back,” Pizzi said.
Orfila’s defense attorney Robert Barrar echoed Pizzi’s skepticism. He painted the supposed kidnapping as an arrest that the officers didn’t go through with because they felt “sorry for him.” Barrar had asked for a bond of no more than $20,000.
“You know what happened that day judge is the police did what they’re allowed to do,” Barrar said. “The law allows police officers to exercise discretion. Look, maybe it was stupid — they had their body cameras off — but that’s not a crime.”
Barrar told reporters he was glad that Orfila will have the opportunity to bond out and be home with his mother, father and sister, adding that he hopes the upcoming trial will be an opportunity to “show the people of Miami-Dade that [Orfila] didn’t do anything.”
Almost two weeks after the alleged beating, private investigator Ali Amin Saleh, who state investigators say is friends with Otano and Orfila, found Ortega Gutierrez at the same strip mall. Saleh gave him $1,350 in exchange for signing an affidavit that claimed he wasn’t beaten and didn’t want the officers punished.
Saleh, 45, was arrested and charged with witness tampering. He was also granted a $10,000 bond under standard condition house arrest on Friday.
Stephen Lopez, Saleh’s defense attorney, tried to poke holes in Abuhoff’s claims that Saleh paid off Ortega Gutierrez and colluded with Orfila. He also requested Saleh be released from jail as his charge doesn’t usually carry a bond.
“The only person who said the money came from Mr. Saleh is [Gutierrez],” Lopez said. “Mr. Saleh is friends with a lot of police officers in Hialeah, he speaks to them on the phone and he meets up with them for coffee and lunch.”
After the judge’s announcement, Lopez said he was happy that Saleh’s bond was reasonable — and that his four kids will have their father back on Friday night.
“At the end, he will be vindicated,” Lopez told reporters about the future trial date.
READ MORE: Notary, caught up in Hialeah police beating scandal, charged with fraud
But the alleged collusion didn’t end with Saleh. Juan Prietocofino, a 51-year-old notary who works in the same office as Saleh, was charged with fraud after being accused of notarizing the falsified affidavit.
Otano, Orfila and Saleh all turned down an opportunity to testify Friday.
