Above: SRO Bert Montalban, left, speaks to members of a parent group last year. Officer John Carter is on the right.
Humberto Montalban, Officer Bert to students at Cole Middle School, was arrested by the state police Wednesday, accused of sending harassing texts to an ex-girlfriend in June.
The arrest follows a complaint filed with the EG police against Montalban. EGPD asked the state police to investigate. According to a press release issued by the state police, the Major Crimes Unit found Montalban had sent his ex-girlfriend a series of text messages over the course of several days in June for the sole intention of causing emotional distress. He was charged with one misdemeanor count of cyberstalking/cyberharassment.
Montalban, 58, of West Warwick, has been on the EG police force since 2009, following a 25-year career with the Warwick police. He was named a student resource officer in 2013, working primarily at Cole Middle School, where he was a fixture. Montalban directed traffic at the beginning and end of each school day and knew most students by name.He has been suspended with pay, as per the police Officers’ Bill of Rights, according to EGPD Chief Stephen Brown.
This is the third time an EGPD officer has been arrested in the past 15 months.
Scott Cole was arrested for a DUI in West Warwick in April 2018, then accused of sending inappropriate texts to a woman he arrested shortly after he returned to duty last August. He returned to duty in March. In June, Mark Edmonds Jr. was arrested and charged with three felony domestic assault charges. Edmonds, who had been on the job for less than a year and so was not protected by the Officers’ Bill of Rights, resigned a few days later.
Upon his arrest, Montalban was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Michael Robinson, and released on personal recognizance. He is due back in court on Aug. 16.
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What a disgrace the EGPD has become. We residents deserve better. It’s time for change.
If you are disappointed and believe all you read, you should find out more about each story. Specifically the case of Officer Montalban. Don’t believe all you read. Remember this is just an ALLEGATION.
I think you’re a little too biased for anyone to take what you say seriously considering what appears to be your linked relationship aka last name. Of course you’re going to try and protect the name of someone you love. But you also have to open your eyes and ears to also understand that those that you love, can also do wrong. This is all allegations….but anyone violating another beings human rights, deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law of found guilty.
I’m not protecting anyone. Let’s not convict an alleged offender before you know all the facts.
I.agree with you on that but while they are sorting out all the facts, I do object to taxpayers having to pay his salary, and that of his replacement while he is out, (which could be a long time) for an allegation about conduct that is personal in nature and doesn’t have anything to do with his job other than rendering him ineffective in it for the moment. Why can’t professionals have insurance to cover those salaries and costs for personal, non job related suspensions?
Humberto Montalban is a person with a big heart. He helps people no matter where they are from. He has been like a big brother to me.
Person with a big heart and even bigger ego, it’s pathetic & shameful that a trusted school resource officer would use his position as a dating service!