Following a fatal collision involving a 92-year-old woman and an Orlando Police cruiser, an internal investigation into the officer involved has been initiated. According to ClickOrlando, the incident, which occurred early Sunday morning at the intersection of South Semoran Boulevard and Hoffner Avenue, resulted in the death of Milagros Ortiz, who succumbed to her injuries surrounded by her family at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
According to the preliminary traffic crash report, a video of the collision and a witness account confirm that the police vehicle, after stopping at a red light on Hoffner Avenue, entered the intersection and struck the Jeep carrying Ortiz. The report indicated that the police vehicle was at fault for failing to yield the right of way. This revelation comes amidst grief from Ortiz's family, who described her as a vibrant and strong individual despite her age, expressing that such an unforeseen and grave error should come from someone meant to uphold the law has left them reeling, a sentiment portrayed in a WESH interview with the late Ortiz's daughter, Evelyn Alicea.
"Just because you're a police officer, that doesn't allow you to just go and run a red light to do whatever it is that you're doing," Judy Santiago, Ortiz's other daughter, told WESH. The family is calling for the State Attorney’s Office to charge the officer with vehicular manslaughter, or an equivalent charge, that reflects the gravity of the loss of their mother's life.
While the condition of the officer involved has not been disclosed, the Orlando Police Department has confirmed an ongoing comprehensive Traffic Homicide investigation, the department offered no additional information as to whether the officer was on or off duty at the time of the incident however, an internal review of the officer's actions is simultaneously taking place, all designed to preserve the integrity of the probes, a department statement detailed after the story originally aired on WESH 2.
