Los Rios Police Department officers shared their experiences of working with Sgt. Alex Montoya, who lost his battle with brain cancer on Thursday, Oct. 23.
“He was kind of rare in our profession,” said Sgt. Mike Olson of the Los Rios Police Department. “Always upbeat, always went out of his way to make you laugh.”
Olson said that Montoya played practical jokes on his colleagues.
“He was also a practical joker. He loved to do little things around the office. If I’d leave my office door open overnight, I’d come in in the morning to find all my furniture upside down,” said Olson.
Capt. John McPeek of the Los Rios Police Department shared many of Olson’s sentiments.
“He was a jokester, loved to play practical jokes,” said McPeek. “He and some other officers filled my locker with tennis balls…so when I opened up the door 10,000 tennis balls flew out of my locker.”
McPeek spoke at Montoya’s funeral, which was on Saturday morning at the El Camino Baptist Church.
“He was…the kind of guy who loved and breathed service. He loved working for the district,” said McPeek. “He was the first one there to help out with a case or help a student who needed some assistance. He was the epitome of what it truly is to be a police officer.”
Olson worked with Montoya for 10 of his 15 years with the department. Montoya began as one of Olson’s corporals but was promoted.
“He started out as a corporal for me when we first worked together. He was one of my corporals. He was later promoted to sergeant, so we worked together as peers,” said Olson.
Montoya was 54 when he died. He is survived by his wife and son.
“He gave everything he could to helping others,” said McPeek.