ORLANDO, Fla. — Records show the man who police say shot two police officers in downtown Orlando on Friday has an extensive criminal history, was on probation, and had several warrants out for his arrest.
When the officers approached Daton Viel, 28, downtown, they did so because the car he was in was connected to a homicide in South Florida.
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But his history started long before then.
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Court records show in December 2022, Viel took a 14-year-old girl to Trotters Park in Orlando and raped her. He was arrested in March 2023.
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The day he made his first appearance in court for charges in that case, March 28, the Department of Corrections filed a report saying Viel violated his probation with the rape arrest.
On March 30, the public defender argued the alleged rape happened before Viel was put on probation, so he couldn’t be held for a probation violation.
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That motion was granted so that violation of probation for trespassing would not have factored in when he bonded out on April 14.
The only thing the state could have done was file a pretrial motion for detention.
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“We could have done any million number of things, but this individual as a matter of law was entitled to a bond and the judge, in this case, decided a $100,000 bond was sufficient,” State Attorney Monique Worrell said.
Channel 9 reached out to the judge about their decision in that case but has not heard back.
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