A naked man was shot in the back and paralyzed. A Hollywood police officer is charged
.jpg "Broward County prosecutors charged a Hollywood police officer in a July 2021 shooting that left a man paralyzed.")
A Hollywood police officer was charged Friday in a July 2021 shooting that left a naked man paralyzed.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Broward County State Attorney’s Office investigation found that Officer Henry Andrews was criminally responsible for shooting Michael Ortiz in the back during an incident in which Ortiz called 911 to complain about chest pain and that he’d taken drugs.
Andrews’ attorney Jeremy Kroll said in a statement to the Miami Herald Friday that the shooting was an accident, and that his client meant to use his Taser stun gun, not his pistol, while struggling with an agitated and naked Ortiz.
“Henry Andrews has been a dedicated public servant for 20 years. In responding to a difficult and chaotic situation, Officer Andrews intended to deploy his Taser and mistakenly discharged his firearm. He and his family have Mr. Ortiz in their thoughts and prayers,” Kroll said.
The Broward County State Attorney’s Office charged Andrews with one count of culpable negligence, inflicting actual personal injury, which is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison. Andrews was charged by prosecutors, not a grand jury.
He was not arrested. Rather, a summons was delivered to Kroll for his client to appear before a judge to hear the charge on Oct. 1.
Hollywood Police Department spokeswoman Deanna Bettineschi said Andrews is still employed on the force and has been assigned to “administrative duties.” Andrews’ salary and length if service in the department were not immediately available Friday, Bettineschi said.
The shooting happened on July 3, 2021. Ortiz called 911, telling operators he had chest pain and was taking narcotics.
When police arrived at his apartment at 5200 Hollywood Blvd., Ortiz came outside naked and was “combative with paramedics and visibly agitated,” officers said in a February news release.
Ortiz told officers he was going to jump from his sixth-floor balcony, according to the statement. An officer was able to restrain Ortiz after shooting him with his stun gun, police said. But, as cops brought him down the apartment building’s stairs, he fought with them.
One of the officers, Andrews, shot Ortiz in the struggle, hitting him once, police said.Ortiz’s attorney, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, released a statement in February saying that Ortiz posed no threat to officers when he was shot.
“He was handcuffed, naked, on the ground, and posed no threat to the officer when he was shot in the back, resulting in his paralysis,” attorneys said in the statement. “Michael Ortiz needed help from the Hollywood Police Department, but what they provided instead was a bullet in the back.”
Crump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about Andrews being charged.
