Exclusive: Dramatic bodycam video shows Doral officer open fire on suspect in fatal 2021 shootout
By: Dramatic new body worn camera footage shows the moment a Doral Police officer traded gunfire with a suspect who ended up dead during a daytime shootout over two years ago.
The footage shows the deadly Oct. 22, 2021 encounter that left 25-year-old suspect Yordany Rodriguez Perez dead and two officers hospitalized.
Officials said the incident began with a dispute between Rodriguez Perez and another man that led to Rodriguez Perez chasing and shooting at the other man.
When officers responded, Rodriguez Perez had lost control of his car and crashed into a tree in the area of Northwest 25th Street and 92nd Avenue.
As two officers approached his car with guns drawn, Rodriguez Perez opened fire on them, officials said.
The body worn camera footage released Tuesday shows a third officer, Daniel Vilarchao, arriving in his marked Doral Police car.
He starts to get out and is immediately met with gunfire from Rodriguez Perez, so he returns fire.
The video shows Vilarchao firing through the windshield, unloading his pistol from inside the car as rounds are seen entering the vehicle.
At one point, Vilarchaos hit and starts bleeding, and drops of blood can be seen dripping down in the video.
Vilarchao manages to reload the weapon, gets out of the car and once again empties the handgun at the suspect.
His hands are seen covered in blood as he uses his radio and then reloads his weapon again.
Officials said Rodriguez Perez ran to the parking lot of a nearby business still armed, and that Vilarchao and another officer continued to shoot at him until he was struck and fell to the ground.
Rodriguez Perez died from his injuries. Vilarchao suffered an injury to his face and had to undergo surgery but made a full recovery.
Officer Johnny Beautelus was shot in the arm, while a bystander who was in a delivery truck was hit in the leg by a bullet.
Vilarchao, Beautelus and the third officer involved, Raffaello Cervera, were later named "Officers of the Year" by the South Florida Police Benevolent Association.
In a memo released in November 2023, the State Attorney's Office concluded that the officers' actions in the shooting was justified.