Former Antioch officer sentenced for violating victim's civil rights with K9 attack
A former Antioch Police officer was sentenced for violating someone's civil rights through excessive force using his K9 and other crimes, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Morteza Amiri was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for the following charges
- Violating someone's civil rights through excessive force
- Falsifying records in connection to the incident
- Wire fraud
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
The incident happened July 24, 2019, during a traffic stop. The DOJ said Amiri pulled over a cyclist and claimed that the reason for the stop was that the cyclist did not have his bicycle light on.
Amiri then approached the cyclist, identified only as A. A., punched him and took him to the ground, the DOJ said, and he then called his K9 to bite the victim. The DOJ said Amiri filed a report stating the K-9 was deployed because he was alone during the incident.
However, the DOJ said Amiri was accompanied by an officer from a neighboring agency at the time, and that the officer had helped Amiri deploy the K9.
After the incident, Amiri showed other officers photos of the victim's wounds, the DOJ said.
"One officer responded, 'Yeah buddy good boy,' referring to the K-9, and 'Lol you bit [A.A.],'" the DOJ said. "In response to a question from another officer about what cut the dog's face, Amiri responded, 'that's a piece of the suspect's flesh lol.'"
The DOJ said Antioch detectives and Amiri took specific action to avoid going to court for the K9 bite.
"Amiri later wrote to the officer who accompanied him on the ride-along, 'you got to see [the K-9] in action lol,' and stated that detectives got the victim 'a 45 day violation and we are gonna leave it at that so i don't go to court for the bite. Easy,'" the DOJ said.
Amiri was also part of a group of Antioch officers who were arrested in a corruption investigation, which is what led to the wire fraud offenses.
The DOJ said Amiri was among the Antioch and Pittsburg officers who enlisted someone to complete online college courses for them to use the departments' reimbursement program and get better pay.
Amiri will also have three years of supervised released, have to pay $3,180 in restitution to A.A., and $10,526 to Antioch.
