Officer Elizabeth Montoya, an eight-year veteran of SAPD, took the witness stand in her own defense Friday as arbitration in her indefinite suspension appeal was expected to conclude after three days of testimony.
Montoya, who testified that she tore her anterior cruciate ligament while an SAPD cadet, could be seen repeatedly being kicked in her leg by Esparza both while searching her outside a patrol vehicle and while attempting to place her in the back of the vehicle. “They were compliance strikes to get her to stop kicking me and to follow my instructions,” testified Montoya, who described the strikes as “rabbit punches” and not full-on haymakers because she was not putting her weight behind them.
City officials previously conceded she was not placed in the department’s Officer Concern Program and was not ordered to go through retraining, two options often given to officers after their interactions with the public are called into question.