ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Charges were dropped earlier this month against an Orange County deputy who shot a man in the leg in December 2020 after a traffic stop.
Deputy Bruce Stolk was indicted by a grand jury in April 2022 on a charge of aggravated battery with a firearm. However, according to a court document filed on March 11, the state dropped all charges against Stolk “due to evidence insufficient to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“Now that the criminal case has been dropped, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office internal investigation will proceed to determine if any policies or procedures were violated in this incident. When that investigation is completed, the findings will be public,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
According to the sheriff’s office, Stolk shot Edenilson Urbina after stopping him for illegal tags on his motorcycle.
“The individual with the motorcycle took off on foot, ran back behind some apartment complexes,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said back in 2020.
Mina said at the time that Stolk opened fire because he believed Urbina may have been reaching for a gun. However, body-camera video later released by the sheriff’s office did not show a gun and the affidavit filed after Urbina’s arrest made no mention of a firearm.
The state attorney’s office also ultimately dropped the charges against Urbina.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: