The Orlando man facing trial next week for a bystander’s death in a botched police chase wants a judge to throw out all of the evidence officers obtained against him that night, arguing that police fabricated the alleged traffic violation that led to the pursuit.
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Dornell Bargnare, 31, is accused of vehicular homicide in the 2025 death of Gerald Neal, a 56-year-old homeless man living in Holden Heights. Bargnare, who was fleeing Orlando police detective Christopher Moulton, struck Neal before crashing. Moulton then ran over Neal and pinned him beneath his police truck.
The fatal high-speed chase began after Moulton allegedly saw that Bargnare’s Nissan Altima had a license plate that was unreadable from 50 feet away.
Now, just a week before his Oct. 5 trial is scheduled to start, Bargnare’s attorney, Jamie Mann, is alleging Moulton made up the traffic violation as a pretext to pull his client over.
Mann filed a court motion Monday asking Judge Gisela Laurent to throw out the evidence Moulton obtained during his stop, seizure, detention and search of Bargnare. Mann described all of these actions as illegal, since Moulton would not have had a legal basis to begin the initial stop without the allegedly fabricated traffic violation.
He wrote that there was no body-worn camera or dashcam footage to support Moulton’s testimony and that prosecutors were relying on the officer’s credibility alone. Mann also argued that because Moulton deactivated his police lights and ended the official pursuit during the chase, that shows he knew he had no genuine probable cause to stop Bargnare.
The Orlando Police Department did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.
Moulton started to pursue Bargnare in an unmarked pickup truck around 7 p.m. on February 12, 2025. The chase violated OPD policy, as pursuits are to be initiated only if there is suspicion of a forcible felony, absent “exigent circumstances,” which there were not in this case. Additionally, pursuits are generally to be conducted with marked vehicles, with the exception of such units not being “readily available.”
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Bargnare sped south ahead of Moulton along Rio Grande Avenue just west of downtown Orlando, making a hard turn on Indiana Street in the Holden Heights area, where he struck Neal before crashing into a utility pole. Moulton arrived shortly after, running over Neal and pinning him beneath his truck before exiting the vehicle and darting after Bargnare.
OPD gave Moulton an 18-day suspension after the detective admitted to internal investigators that he knowingly violated the department’s pursuit policy during the chase. The department released a transcript of Moulton’s interview with investigators in which he revealed he purposely did not report the chase to dispatchers.
“Why not?” an investigator asked.
Moulton replied, “I would’ve violated department policy to pursue the vehicle.”
The investigation further found Moulton did not turn on his body-worn camera, or BWC, as the chase was happening. However, the camera was designed to capture and retain footage one minute prior to it being activated, which it ultimately was during Moulton’s foot pursuit of Bargnare.
Internal investigators sharply criticized Moulton’s actions in their memo outlining his discipline.
“This decision” to not call in the chase “was an intentional and deliberate effort to circumvent Department policy,” the memo said. It later stated, “The failure to activate the BWC during a critical incident involving a pursuit and subsequent fatality is a serious violation that undermines transparency, accountability and public trust.”
The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office initially considered charging Moulton with manslaughter via culpable negligence, but concluded charges would not be appropriate, citing Florida law and legal precedent for its decision.
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