ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta officials have agreed to pay Travis and Kami Moya $275,000 to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from a July 2021 use of force incident in which a K9 injured a man’s arm.
At a Feb. 5 formal meeting, the Alpharetta City Council voted 5-1 to approve the settlement agreement. Councilman Brian Will cast the dissenting vote, and Councilman Donald Mitchell was absent.
In the agreement, the Moyas acquit Alpharetta, Public Safety Director John Robison and the involved officers “from all claims, suits, costs, debts, demands, actions and causes of action” related to the incident.
The city’s insurer, Tokio Marine HCC, is footing the $275,000 settlement. City Administrator Chris Lagerbloom said Alpharetta was responsible for its $25,000 deductible.
Alpharetta police officers reportedly responded to a domestic disturbance call July 25, 2021. In the following minutes, former officer Michael 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.”
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 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
In September 2023, the presiding judge granted a dispositive motion in favor of Alpharetta. The Moyas appealed the ruling, but the Feb. 5 settlement halts future court proceedings.
The settlement was originally included in the consent agenda, a roster of items approved or denied in a single vote without discussion.
But, Councilman Will moved the item to the new business agenda for public discussion.
“Our public safety officers did what…
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