ORLANDO, Fla. – Two months before Daton Viel shot and wounded two Orlando police officers in August, a Florida Department of Corrections probation officer visited the Orlando home where Viel was living with his aunt.
Viel, who was on supervised probation with FDOC for prior felonies committed in Florida and Georgia, was asleep when the probation officer arrived around 9:30 a.m.
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The probation officer talked to Viel about an upcoming court hearing and conducted a routine visual inspection of his home. No problems were noted.
The following morning, Viel reported to the local probation office where an officer checked the electronic monitoring device and bracelet strap that were issued to Viel so the state could keep tabs on the probationer’s whereabouts.
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At the time of those two face-to-face visits, corrections officials were apparently unaware a warrant for Viel’s arrest had been issued in Georgia a month earlier.
Newly obtained FDOC records detailing Viel’s probation make no mention of the Georgia arrest warrant, and there are no indications Florida corrections officials attempted to take the fugitive into custody.
Less than three weeks after Viel visited the probation office, FDOC received an alert that Viel may have tampered with his electronic monitoring device.
When a probation officer arrived at his aunt’s home about an hour later, corrections officials discovered Viel had cut off his monitoring bracelet with a sharp object and disappeared.
One month later, a red car that authorities believe may have belonged to Viel was captured on video driving away from the scene of a murder in Miami.
Less than four weeks after that homicide, Viel ambushed two Orlando police officers and opened fire as they were investigating his Ford Fusion in Downtown Orlando, according to the agency.
Viel was killed during a shootout with the Orlando Police Department’s SWAT team early the next morning. The officers were treated for their injuries at a hospital and later released.
Viel convicted of crimes in Georgia
New details about Viel’s state supervision are documented in FDOC probation records obtained by News 6 through a public record request.
In January 2022, Viel pleaded guilty in Georgia to multiple crimes, including striking a woman with an iron, punching a woman in the mouth while in the presence of children, damaging cell phones, and making violent threats.
A Georgia state judge sentenced Viel to the prison time he served while awaiting his criminal case to be resolved, followed by more than three years of supervised probation.
Since Viel was a Florida resident at the time of his sentencing with no job or other ties to Georgia, Viel was granted permission to transfer his probation to Florida under an interstate compact.
FDOC began supervising Viel on Feb. 11, 2022, after Viel moved into his aunt’s Orlando home.
During his first year under state supervision, records show Viel had routine visits with probation officers at his home and their office with no documented problems.
In February 2023, a Florida judge sentenced Viel to 18 months of probation under the supervision of FDOC in a separate criminal case involving trespassing on an Orange County construction site. That trespassing offense occurred in 2019, prior to Viel’s crimes in Georgia.
One month later, Viel found himself in serious trouble again.
Arrested in rape case
On March 27, Orlando Police arrested Viel for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl.
According to investigators, Viel picked up the juvenile as she was walking to school and drove her to an Orlando park where he sexually battered the teen. Viel then drove the girl back to school, police said.
The alleged rape occurred in December 2022 while Viel serving probation for his Georgia offenses but prior to his Florida probation sentence. Since the young victim reportedly did not know her attacker, court records show it took authorities a few months to identify Viel using DNA technology.
At the time of Viel’s sexual battery arrest, there is no indication in court records that the office of former Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell sought to hold Viel in custody while awaiting trial.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and other legal experts have criticized Worrell’s office for failing to file a motion for pretrial detention to keep Viel in jail.
Worrell has defended her staff’s actions, claiming state officials failed to notify her office of any information that would justify pretrial detention.
Viel was released from the Orange County jail April 14 after posting a $125,250 bond, court records show.
Viel case used as justification to suspend state attorney
Four days after Viel shot the two Orlando police officers, Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Worrell from office.
In a 15-page executive order and 22 pages of supporting documents, DeSantis outlined numerous reasons why he believed Worrell exhibited incompetence and neglect of duty while serving as state attorney since 2021.
“Just this past weekend, Worrell was at the center of another major controversy,” DeSantis said during a news conference announcing the state attorney’s suspension. “Daton Viel was arrested in March of 2023 for sexual battery on a minor as well as lewd and lascivious molestation. The arrest was made while he was on probation for another offense. That probation began in February of 2022. And yet, he was still let out on bond and then tragically shot two Orlando Police officers.”
DeSantis did not mention that FDOC, an executive branch agency that reports to him, was responsible for supervising Viel during his probation.
Court records show FDOC unsuccessfully tried to keep Viel in jail.
Two days after Viel was arrested for sexual battery, an FDOC probation officer filed an affidavit in court claiming Viel’s arrest violated the terms of his supervised probation in the Orange County trespassing case.
However, since the alleged December 2022 rape occurred before Viel was sentenced to probation in the trespassing case in February 2023, a judge refused to find Viel in violation of his Florida probation, clearing the way for Viel’s release from jail.
Records provided to News 6 by FDOC do not indicate whether Florida corrections officials immediately sought a probation violation in Viel’s Georgia case.
But an FDOC spokesperson told News 6 the agency alerted Georgia authorities two days after Viel’s arrest.
“A progress report was sent to Georgia on March 29 notifying them of the sexual battery charges,” an FDOC spokesperson said. “A progress report is the method to notify the other state of the new law violations per Interstate Compact rules.”
News 6 has been unable to determine what Georgia authorities may have done with that information.
A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Community Supervision declined to answer specific questions about Viel. The agency cited a Georgia law that deems all information about the supervision of probationers confidential.
Before Viel was released from the Orange County jail on April 14, FDOC officials outfitted the probationer with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
That same day, FDOC submitted a “progress report” to Georgia authorities, records show.
A copy of that progress report provided to News 6 was completely blacked out, indicating the document contained information that could not be publicly released under Florida law.
An FDOC spokesperson told News 6 that the document sent to Georgia was a copy of Viel’s arrest affidavit.
On April 28, two weeks after Viel was released from jail, FDOC conducted a criminal record check on Viel that included a search for any arrest warrants, probation documents show. No warrants were noted.
An FDOC spokesperson confirmed April 28 was the last time the agency searched for arrest warrants for Viel.
Viel met with probation officers after Georgia arrest warrant was issued
One week later on May 5, court records show a judge in Georgia issued an arrest warrant for Viel for violating the terms of his probation.
It remains unclear why it took authorities more than a month after Viel’s sexual battery arrest to obtain an arrest warrant in Georgia. Probation officials in Georgia did not respond to questions about it, citing the state’s confidentiality laws.
On the same day the Georgia arrest warrant was issued, Viel met with probation officers twice: once at his home and once at their office, FDOC records show.
There is no indication from FDOC records that the Florida agency was notified of the Georgia arrest warrant prior to those encounters.
An FDOC probation officer returned to Viel’s home on May 12, according to state records.
During that visit, Viel expressed a desire to see his minor son and explained that he had been researching his criminal case at the Valencia College library, FDOC notes show.
Viel reported to the probation office on May 22, where an FDOC official changed out his electronic monitoring bracelet, notes from the visit show. Those notes make no mention of a Georgia arrest warrant.
A probation officer met with Viel at his home on June 4, and Viel checked in at the probation office on June 5, according to state records.
That is the last time FDOC officials had face-to-face contact with Viel, probation records indicate.
Viel disappears
On June 14, the day after Viel cut off his electronic monitoring equipment and absconded from state supervision, FDOC officials filed another probation violation affidavit in Viel’s 2019 Orange County trespassing case.
An Orange County judge promptly issued a warrant for Viel’s arrest, records show.
Two weeks later on June 30, police at the University of Central Florida attempted to arrest Viel during a traffic stop, but he managed to get back in his car and escape, records show.
On July 10, a red Ford Fusion authorities believe belonged to Viel was caught on camera leaving the scene of a murder in Miami.
According to Miami-Dade police, an unidentified gunman wearing a ski mask approached Michael Williams, Jr. as he sat on the front porch of his home.
Williams tried to run away, police said, but the gunman chased after him while shooting at the victim.
On Aug. 5, more than three weeks after the Miami homicide, two Orlando police officers spotted the wanted vehicle near Washington Street and Garland Avenue in Downtown Orlando.
Viel shot and wounded the two police officers before fleeing the area, investigators said.
Authorities located Viel inside a Holiday Inn near Universal Orlando Resort the following morning.
Viel began shooting at the Orlando Police SWAT team as they attempted to arrest him, investigators said, prompting officers to shoot and kill Viel.
The two injured police officers were released from the hospital in August. The Orlando Police Department has not disclosed their names.
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