ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Charges have been dropped against an Alpharetta husband and father who was attacked by a K-9 last year outside of his home during what his lawyers characterized as a mental health call, and the family is now filing a lawsuit.
Lawyers for Travis Moya said he "sustained severe dog bite wounds after he was slammed to the ground" in the incident last year, during a "non-violent mental health call."
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.
Moya had been charged with felony obstruction for not complying with officer commands following the incident.
Attorney L. Chris Stewart, who also worked on the legal team that represented George Floyd's family, said it was their opinion the charges were added "to hide the bad behavior of the officer involved in this situation."
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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.
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.
Moya's attorneys said in a statement they were "pleased that these charges have been dismissed but there is still much work to be done to ensure that Mr. Moya receives the justice he deserves."
"All too often an individual's character is assassinated and months or years later charges are dropped or dismissed. But the damage to Mr. Moya has already been done," attorneys said in the statement. "We are working now in the civil courts to ensure that Mr. Moya's voice is heard and pray that the district attorney will hold that officer accountable."
"We all saw from the video that Mr. Moya didn't do a single thing in order to be charged and that he was the victim of excessive force," Stewart said at the press conference. "In these situations of excessive force the easiest way to hide that is by creating these unnecessary and false charges against somebody. That's the easiest way to hide bad behavior."
Attorneys did not specify how much they will be seeking in damages with the lawsuit.