ORLANDO, Fla. – Nearly two years after a wanted fugitive shot and wounded two Orlando police officers, video and documents recently obtained by News 6 reveal how the violent encounter unfolded.
Orlando police officers Kaley Powell and Andy Rodriguez were critically injured August 4, 2023, after being shot multiple times by Daton Viel, a convicted felon on supervised probation who was awaiting trial for allegedly raping a teen girl.
Viel, 28, was later killed in a shootout with the Orlando Police Department SWAT team.
Four days after the attack, amid questions about why Viel was on the street despite his lengthy criminal history, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell. Voters later re-elected her to the office.
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Newly released video from Rodriguez’s body-worn camera shows the Orlando police officer approached a man standing alongside a silver car in a downtown parking lot just before 11:00 p.m.
News 6 is not identifying the man since he was never charged with a crime, and police said he was not involved in the shooting that occurred moments later.
“We just saw you do a hand-to-hand,” said Rodriguez, apparently referencing a technique used to exchange drugs. Police records show a container with a green leafy substance was found on top of the silver car, and a bag with a white powdery substance was located nearby.
As Rodgriguez placed the man in handcuffs, Viel stood in the parking lot between the silver car and his own red Ford Fusion.
Powell, who arrived at the scene after Rodriguez, approached Viel.
It is unclear from Powell’s body-worn camera video whether she was aware of Viel’s identity or that his car was linked to a Miami homicide.
A little more than a month earlier, University of Central Florida police stopped Viel’s car near campus after license plate readers detected the vehicle’s tag was stolen.
Viel, who had recently cut off his GPS ankle monitor while under state supervision for felony convictions in Florida and Georgia, ran away from UCF police officers on foot.
As officers chased him, Viel circled around a building and returned to his car, which police had momentarily left unattended. He then drove off and got away, video of the traffic stop shows.
About two weeks later, authorities said Viel’s Ford Fusion was caught on camera leaving the scene of a murder in Miami.
“Just relax. Put your hands behind your back. You’re being detained,” Powell said to Viel as she walked up to him in the Downtown Orlando parking lot.
“Detained for what?” responded Viel.
Seconds later, video captured by Powell’s body-worn camera showed Viel jerk away from the officer and start running through the parking lot.
“I got him!” Rodriguez said as he began to chase Viel, leaving Powell behind in the parking lot to stay with the man Rodriguez had previously handcuffed.
“Foot pursuit!” Rodriguez exclaimed on his police radio.
Viel ran out of the parking lot, located at the intersection of North Garland Avenue and West Washington Street, and sprinted towards several Orlando Police Department vehicles parked near the agency’s downtown substation, video shows.
Viel then circled around a building and started running back to the parking lot where his car was parked, similar to what happened near UCF a few weeks earlier.
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As Powell stood next to the handcuffed man, video from her body-worn camera shows Viel return to his car and enter the driver’s side door.
Powell and Rodriguez ran to Viel’s car and deployed their tasers, videos show, but the fugitive remained seated behind the steering wheel.
“Get out of the car now!” shouted Powell.
“Quit reaching!” yelled Rodriguez.
“I’m coming, bro!” replied Viel.
While the officers struggled with Viel, their cameras captured the sounds of more than a dozen gunshots.
Records show Powell was struck in the right arm, left arm, and torso area while Rodriguez sustained injuries to his upper right chest and right torso.
As the gunfire began, the officers immediately began running away, but in opposite directions from each other.
While Rodriguez headed east towards the OPD substation located about a block from the parking lot, Powell retreated west towards I-4.
“Shots fired! Shots fired!” Rodriguez yelled over his police radio.
Seconds later, a group of fellow police officers ran towards Rodriguez.
“Help me! Help! I’m shot!” said Rodriguez as officers placed him on his back and began performing first aid.
Meanwhile, Powell’s body-worn camera video showed her appearing to take cover behind a car at the far end of the parking lot.
“I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot!” Powell screamed as blood dripped down her arms.
Those screams possibly caught Viel’s attention.
More than 20 seconds after the initial round of gunfire, video shows Viel run toward Powell with a gun in his hand.
“Where’s the key at?” Viel yelled before firing another shot at the officer.
Powell screamed again but remained on her feet as she continued running towards Garland Street, where she was soon approached by a fellow officer.
“Are you hit?” the officer asked Powell.
“I’ve been shot!” Powell responded as the officer called for assistance on his radio.
While Powell was being cared for on the sidewalk, four more gunshots were heard in the distance.
Records obtained by News 6 indicate that another Orlando police officer fired at Viel before the fugitive carjacked an Alfa Romeo from the parking lot and fled the scene.
It is not clear from the video whether Powell or Rodriguez fired their service weapons at Viel, and News 6 has not yet obtained records from an independent review of the shooting conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
However, supplemental reports written by the Orlando Police Department indicate that weapons belonging to Powell and Rodriguez were not missing any rounds.
As the two wounded police officers were transported to the hospital in Orlando Police Department patrol vehicles, other officers attempted to locate the carjacked Alfa Romeo, which was later recovered in Apopka unoccupied.
The other man in the parking lot who had been detained by Rodguez fled the scene, records show. Police located him at a Winter Park apartment and recovered a broken pair of handcuffs, according to a report.
Investigators later concluded that the man was not responsible for the shooting.
Crime scene investigators found a Ford key fob in the parking lot, but records obtained by News 6 do not indicate whether it belonged to Viel.
Inside Viel’s Ford Fusion, detectives located a Holiday Inn access card and paperwork referencing a hotel room number.
Police found Viel at the Holiday Inn on Caravan Court near Universal Orlando Resort early that morning.
SWAT officers fired nearly 80 rounds during a gun battle on the hotel’s fifth floor after a crisis negotiation team unsuccessfully tried to get Viel to surrender peacefully, records indicate.
Viel’s body was found at the end of a hallway near an ice machine, not far from a black Glock pistol.
A grand jury that reviewed the shooting cleared six police officers of wrongdoing last year.
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Four days after the shooting, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell for what the governor described as a pattern of incompetence that included her office’s failure to seek pretrial detention in Viel’s sexual battery case.
Worrell disputed the governor’s characterization and described her suspension as a “political hit job.”
Records indicate Viel was under the supervision of the Florida Department of Corrections while serving probation for prior crimes he committed in Florida and Georgia.
The day after Viel’s rape arrest, FDOC officials attempted to get Viel’s probation revoked by filing paperwork in a criminal trespassing case that occurred in Orange County, court records show.
But an Orange County circuit court judge dismissed the probation violation because the rape occurred months before Viel was placed on probation in the trespassing case.
Worrell won re-election as state attorney in November.
Rodriguez and Powell were released from the hospital shortly after the August 2023 shooting.
“We are just relieved that both officers are alive and healthy,” an Orlando Police Department spokesperson told News 6 in response to questions about the newly released videos and documents. “This incident had a tremendous impact on our agency.”
