SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police officer fired last year after being arrested in two separate domestic violence-related incidents was able to get the charges in both cases dismissed this week, Bexar County court records show.
Jonathan Montalvo was handed an indefinite suspension, tantamount to being fired, by SAPD in the summer of 2020, following his November 2019 arrest for felony strangulation and his June 2020 arrest for violating conditions of bond that prohibited him from having contact with his alleged victim.
The case dismissals come days before Montalvo had been scheduled to formally appeal his termination before a third-party arbitrator on Nov. 2.
The scheduled hearing, however, does not appear on the city’s posted agenda website and a city Human Resources official confirmed Friday it has been reset to March 2022.
Montalvo’s defense attorney said Montalvo has surrendered his peace officer’s license and is no longer seeking his job back.
Two arrests
A neighbor called police in November 2019 after hearing yelling, and when officers responded, Montalvo’s then-girlfriend told police he grabbed her by the neck and threw her on the bed while they were arguing.
Montalvo was taken into custody and charged with assault family violence-choking, a third-degree felony.
Months later, in late June 2020, Montalvo was again arrested after police responded to the 13000 block of Interstate 10 West, near UTSA Boulevard, for a possible assault in progress inside a gray four-door vehicle. The vehicle had struck a guardrail resulting in a crash, police previously said.
Montalvo, and his then-girlfriend were found inside the vehicle and the woman had injuries that appeared to be consistent with the crash. The woman denied that Montalvo had assaulted her, police said.
Investigators, however, determined the previous domestic violence charge was for allegedly assaulting the same woman, and that he was currently out on bond for the charge. Montalvo had a bond condition prohibiting contact with the woman, police said.
Montalvo confirmed to officers that the woman was his girlfriend and that they were living together.
Montalvo was taken into custody and charged with a violation of conditions of bond by contact, a misdemeanor, police said.
SAPD terminated his employment weeks after his second arrest, records show.
Prosecutors dismissed the felony assault charge against Montalvo on Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence, court records show.
The misdemeanor violation of bond conditions charge was dismissed Monday. A staff member for County Court 13, where that case was filed, referred questions to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office since the dismissal form did not list a reason.
A spokeswoman for the DA’s office released the following statement late Thursday afternoon:
“The case was dismissed for a lack of proof of an essential element of the offense, the complainant requested a dismissal of all charges and this defendant has permanently surrendered his TCOLE license.”
Montalvo’s defense attorney said via telephone Thursday that Montalvo was no longer planning to pursue arbitration. She referred additional questions to Montalvo’s union representatives.