HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A former Hollywood Police officer is being charged for his role in a 2021 shooting that left a man paralyzed.
Forty-nine-year-old Henry Andrews said the shooting was an accident, but the state attorney’s office said it was a crime.
Andrews is being charged with culpable negligence inflicting actual personal injury, which is a misdemeanor.
Surveillance footage from that incident showed police trying to bring the victim, Michael Ortiz, into custody. At one point during the confrontation, he was shocked with a Taser once.
It happened back in July of 2021, at an apartment in Hollywood.
According to police, Ortiz had called 911 complaining of chest pains after ingesting narcotics.
“His family will tell you he had lost his dog, and he was having a mental health crisis,” said Ben Crump, Ortiz’s attorney, in February. “He was calling 911 for help.”
Back in February, Crump demanded police release video of what happened.
A 7News viewer sent us a video and you do hear the sound of gunfire.
“At some point, he was tased once if not more,” said his attorney. “At some point, he was stark naked. At some point, he was handcuffed, and at some point, he was face down.”
That’s when Hollywood Police said Andrews thought he was reaching for his Taser, but he took out his gun and fired a shot that struck Ortiz in the back, which left him paralyzed.
“Taser is on one side. The gun is on the other side,” said Hunter Shkolnik, family attorney. “They have already tased him two times, it’s hard to believe you made a mistake.”
Andrews was reassigned following the shooting.
Ortiz’s attorneys, Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, released a statement on Friday, reading, “This case is a tragic example of what can go wrong when a police officer is responding to a mental health crisis – instead of providing Michael emergency medical care and deescalating the situation, this officer tased him multiple times and shot him in the back, leaving him paralyzed and forever disabled.”
Andrews will face a judge in the next few weeks.
If found guilty he can face up to a year in prison.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.