Attorneys for Elias Montoya say the veteran officer intends to file an appeal for wrongful termination.
State Police Chief Pete Kassetas fired Montoya on Friday, one day after a disciplinary hearing
Video from a police cruiser’s dashboard camera taken during the October 28 traffic stop has drawn national attention. It showed Montoya shooting at the minivan as a Memphis, Tennessee, woman drove away from a traffic stop after an officer knocked out her van’s window with a baton.
The motorist, 39-year-old Oriana Farrell, had been stopped by another State Police officer for speeding. She fled twice after that officer tried to give her a ticket and then arrest her.
The officer was placed on administrative leave last week following an investigation into the shooting outside the northern New Mexico tourist town of Taos.
There are obviously some bad decisions made by the driver of the minivan. When she was pulled over for going 71MPH in a 55MPH zone in New Mexico, Oriana Ferrell decided to drive off while the officer walked back to his car to issue her a ticket.
Driving off was obviously a wrong decision.
The officer jumped into his car and a short chase ensued. Oriana pulled over again and an irate police officer walked over to the driver side of the vehicle where Oriana sat waiting, and demanded she get out of the vehicle.
“Look, I’m going to ask you one more time to get out of the vehicle and then I’m going to pull you out, OK?” the officer said. “You’re already facing evading charges. You ran away from me.”
“Sir, I pulled back over, I didn’t run away,” Oriana said. “You see my children. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just trying to take them to the Rio Grande.”
At this point, the officer is seen on the dashboard cam trying to open the driver side door of the minivan. On the passenger side, Oriana’s 14-year-old son is seen opening his door to get out. He changes his mind and reentered the vehicle.
Oriana finally exited the vehicle and went with the officer behind the minivan. He asked her to face the vehicle and at this point, Oriana walked away, heading back to her car. The officer tried stopping her and at this point, Oriana’s 14-year-old exited the vehicle and tried defending his mother against the police. Oriana made it into the driver’s seat and her son ran into the passenger’s side followed closely by the police.
After meeting the doors locked, the officer bagan smashing the window of the minivan. A wrong decision on his part.
At this point, backup arrived and a scared Oriana, hearing her children screaming in a car with shattering glass all around them, sped off again. Another wrong decision, but one that is totally understandable under the circumstances.
At this point, one of the backup officers decided to pull out his gun and began shooting at the car as Oriana drove away trying to save her children. The officers chased after the mother, arresting her and her son when they stopped at the hotel.
So far, the officers have not been charged for shooting after a fleeing suspect, something the Supreme Court has barred in a 1985 ruling.
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