HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A well-known civil rights attorney has filed a public records lawsuit against the Hollywood Police Department months after an officer-involved shooting left a man paralyzed and his loved ones demanding accountability.
7News cameras captured 42-year-old Michael Ortiz in a wheelchair as attorney Benjamin Crump brought him into a room ahead of a news conference, Monday.
Months after the July 2021 incident, Crump said, Ortiz’s family has lots of questions.
“On July 3rd of 2021, Michael Ortiz called 911. His family will tell you he had lost his dog, and he was having a mental health crisis,” said Crump. “He was calling 911 for help.”
Ortiz’s family told him to take a shower to calm down while they waited for police.
However, Crump said, when officers arrived at the apartment complex along the 5200 block of Hollywood Boulevard, chaos ensued.
“At some point, he was Tased twice, if not more. At some point, he was stark naked. At some point, he was handcuffed, and at some point, he was face down,” he said.
A neighbor who identified herself as Lala described the tense scene leading up to the shooting.
“It was one police [officer], he was over on this side, right there, right over on this side,” she said, “and they were, like, right there, and they were wrestling, I guess to calm him down.”
Witnesses said a Hollywood Police officer shot Ortiz during the struggle.
“Why did you have the need to shoot me?” said Ortiz. “Why were there six grown people, and they can’t put me down, cuff me, and that’s it? But then they had to use violence?”
A surveillance camera captured the entire incident, but Ortiz’s attorneys said the police department is not cooperating and has not turned over the video.
“We had to file a public records lawsuit today to say to the Hollywood city leadership that you must release the video that shows us why your police officer shot a man — that was stark naked, handcuffed — in the back and paralyzed him,” said Crump.
“We have a lot of questions, and we need a lot of answers,” said Cynthia Ortiz, the man’s sister.
In addition to being paralyzed, Ortiz has no control of his bodily functions. His pancreas was also injured by the officer’s bullet. He has accumulated more than $1 million in medical bills.
As of Monday night, the Hollywood Police Department has not commented on the incident or the lawsuit.
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