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Case involving officer whose K-9 attacked Alpharetta man to be presented to grand jury

That grand jury would potentially decide whether or not to indict former Alpharetta officer Michael Esposito.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A 2021 case involving an Alpharetta officer whose K-9 attacked a man outside his home will be presented to a grand jury.

A city official on Monday confirmed to 11Alive that the Fulton County District Attorney's Office had verbally notified the city in January about plans to present the case to a grand jury in March.

That grand jury would then potentially decide whether or not to indict former Alpharetta officer Michael Esposito.

The case had been brought up at a city council meeting last month, where the council approved a resolution to provide up to $10,000 per year, per legal case to former or current city employees who face cases connected to their job with the city.

RELATED: Charges dropped against man who was attacked by K-9 during police response at his home in Alpharetta

The original incident happened in the summer of 2021, during a police response to the home of Travis Moya. The husband and father was then big and taken to the ground during what was a mental health call to his home.

11Alive reported at the time that Moya's wife made the call - which attorneys said Wednesday was not to police, but for an emergency ambulance response - because he was acting strange at home. Police nonetheless responded and classified it as a "domestic disturbance call" and said he became verbally and physically aggressive when they arrived at the home.

Bodycam video of the incident was subsequently released, and charges were eventually dropped against Moya.

Attorney L. Chris Stewart said at the time he believed charges had only ever been added against Moya "to hide the bad behavior of the officer involved in this situation."

Moya said he lost 100% physical mobility and job opportunities because of the incident.

"The whole experience has been traumatic. It's affected myself, my family a whole realm of things," Moya said at a press conference in 2021. 

Kami Moya, his wife, said he suffered 40 dog bites and said she was there recording video as the incident unfolded.

"It was terrifying to record my husband being attacked and trying to record and care at the same time. It was the most traumatic experience ever. There were pieces of his arm - he's missing pieces of his arm," she said.

Credit: Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys

   

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