A Hialeah Police officer who was allowed to keep his badge took the stand Thursday against his fired co-worker who was accused of kidnapping and beating a man they were only supposed to arrest and take to jail.
The trial continued Thursday for Rafael Otano, who's accused of kidnapping and battery for allegedly driving a man away from his assigned sector and beating him on Dec. 17, 2022. A second former officer, Lorenzo Orfila, is also charged in the incident but will be tried separately.
The third officer on scene, Jeffrey Abascal, was not criminally charged. He told a jury Thursday he was called as backup to a disturbance call where Jose Ortega-Gutierrez was the alleged suspect.
Abascal said Orfila handcuffed the man near a cigar shop and all three walked to a police cruiser. Otano was also on scene.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Abascal told jurors those in custody get taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, unless it’s a special circumstance, like if the defendant needs to be taken to a mental health facility. However, Abascal, who was in his own police cruiser, noticed Orfila and Otano driving away from their assigned location and stayed back.
Carolina Sanchez, Assistant State Attorney, asked Abascal why he felt the need to stop following his coworkers.
“There was a lot of policies that were being violated, really…," Abascal responded. "I just felt something was wrong, to be honest.”
Prosecutors believe Orfila and Otano took the victim to the isolated location, away from their assigned patrol zone, to hit him.
Abascal also told jurors he saw Orfila and Otano later that day, and they told him they took the man to sector six. All three officers were assigned to sector four. When asked how their demeanor was, the officer said his coworkers sounded nervous and worried.
Before the day ended, Abascal also told the jury Otano called him to retell the story about Ortega-Gutierrez. This time Otano added internal affairs was involved.
Otano's trial will continue on Friday and is expected to end early next week.
Orfila has a court hearing in September.
