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Advisory board recommends revocation of Orange County deputy's POST certificate after sustained finding for excessive force
Summary
The advisory board voted to recommend revocation of Deputy Armando Montalvo's POST certificate after the Orange County Sheriff's Department sustained a finding that Montalvo used excessive force during a March 16, 2024 booking incident; the agency imposed a 40-hour suspension, and POST staff presented video and investigative evidence to the board.
The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board voted on Oct. 9, 2025, to recommend revocation of the POST certificate of Orange County Deputy Sheriff Armando Montalvo after POST's Professional Conduct Division presented evidence that Montalvo used excessive force during a booking-room incident on March 16, 2024.
Marcus Gregory, law enforcement consultant assigned to the Southern Bureau, told the board that during the intake-release booking process Montalvo and other deputies responded to a detainee who resisted while being escorted to the photo booth. Gregory said the agency investigation and video showed that multiple deputies took the detainee to the ground and that Montalvo punched the detainee approximately 28 times to the face, head and upper body while the detainee was restrained and showed only passive resistance. Gregory said video also showed Montalvo thereafter lifted the detainee's head and struck it against the concrete floor while the detainee was pinned.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department conducted an administrative investigation, sustained a finding that the force was outside agency policy and imposed a 40-hour suspension. Gregory told the board that Montalvo cooperated in the administrative investigation, acknowledged his actions were excessive and sought additional training afterward. POST's division recommended suspension or revocation of certification, arguing that the conduct constituted physical abuse (excessive force) under Penal Code section 13510.8.
Defense counsel Brett Rakowski told the board that the agency undertook a thorough internal review and that the discipline (40 hours) was deliberate and not the result of a settlement designed to minimize the conduct. Rakowski said Montalvo accepted responsibility, had sought additional training and that the incident reflected a correctable training deficiency rather than a pattern of disqualifying misconduct. Montalvo told the board he was remorseful, acknowledged tunnel vision in the moment and said he had pursued extra training since the incident.
POST staff also reported Montalvo has multiple prior use-of-force reports in POST records: Gregory said five earlier reports were on file, four of which had been closed by the agency as unfounded or not sustained and one that had been submitted to POST but not yet investigated as of Oct. 2, 2025. Board members asked whether prior matters had video and how agencies use closure labels such as "unfounded" and "not sustained." POST staff said closure terms vary by agency and that POST conducts audits of patterns where multiple complaints involve the same officer.
After closed-session deliberations the board voted to recommend revocation by roll call. The motion passed with six votes in favor and one opposed; the recommendation moves to the Commission for consideration of a possible evidentiary hearing.
