ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando police officer has been suspended for 80 hours after an internal review found he drove his patrol vehicle unsafely in the moments leading up to a crash that killed a 92-year-old woman.
Milagros “Millie” Ortiz was a passenger in a Jeep on Jan. 18, returning home from a bingo game, when Officer McKuhen’s patrol vehicle struck the SUV at an intersection.
Last month, Ortiz’s family filed a $92 million wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Orlando in connection with the fatal crash.
Traffic camera surveillance video shows McKuhen stopped at a red light before he said he observed another motorist make an illegal U-turn.
The video shows McKuhen switched on his patrol vehicle’s red and blue emergency lights and started moving into the intersection. Moments before the collision with the Jeep carrying Ortiz, however, those emergency lights were no longer activated.
The State Attorney’s Office later determined McKuhen was not driving recklessly. He will not face criminal charges.
Investigators with the state attorney’s office later learned the patrol vehicle had a history of maintenance issues with the emergency lights and siren dating back years, records show.
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“Although the lighting equipment may not have been functioning properly, Officer McKuhen is still responsible for operating his vehicle with due care,” an Orlando Police Department supervisor wrote in a July 10 memo recommending the officer be suspended. “He failed to navigate the intersection safely and exercise due caution and judgment.”
McKuhen violated an agency policy that states the “driver of any police vehicle shall operate the said vehicle reasonably and safely, exercising due caution and judgment”, the memo stated.
According to the agency, McKuhen created a risk to public safety while attempting to investigate a minor traffic violation but he did not break the speed limit or appear to intentionally break traffic laws.
McKuhen’s 80 hours of suspension were deducted from his personal leave time, records show.
Weeks before the deadly crash, a Lake County man who spent eight days in jail claims McKuhen wrongly identified him as a fleeing driver.
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