ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A Fulton County grand jury has indicted former Alpharetta police officer Michael Esposito on charges stemming from a July 2021 use of force incident in which a K9 injured a man’s arm.
Esposito was charged with violation of oath by a public officer and aggravated assault and battery in the Fulton County Superior Court May 23.
While employed by the Alpharetta Police Department, Esposito reportedly responded to a domestic disturbance call July 25, 2021. In the following minutes, Esposito released a K9 named Ares, who attacked the arm of Travis Moya, leaving “large amounts of blood and fatty tissue coming out of the wound.”
The indictment states Esposito “did maliciously cause bodily harm to Travis Moya by unlawfully directing a police canine to bite Travis Moya and seriously disfigure his person,” and Esposito had failed to faithfully discharge his duties as a police officer by permitting the K9 to bite Moya.
In an official 2021 review of the incident, the Alpharetta Police Department found there was no violation of federal, state or departmental policy.
The following year, Moya and Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys of Atlanta filed a civil suit against Esposito and the city, which is ongoing.
Moya’s family said he was not resisting, and his attorneys said the incident left him with permanent disfiguration, physical pain, loss of wages, humiliation and distress.
Moya was initially charged with felony willful obstruction of law enforcement officers and misdemeanor obstruction of law enforcement, but the charges were dropped in 2022 after a Fulton County assistant district attorney found insufficient evidence to support a finding of guilt.
The City of Alpharetta declined comment per policy on matters of pending litigation.
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