OAKLAND — Morteza Amiri was angry.
He had been placed on Antioch police administrative leave with a pending criminal investigation, and now his employers had taken away Purcy, the K9 he affectionately referred to as his “fur missile” for its ability to bite suspects in a flash. Now Amiri was calling acting police Chief Joseph Vigil on repeat, then showed up to the department to settle the issue, according to a declaration filed by Vigil this week, detailing the 2023 confrontation.
The result? Vigil says he was so “concerned” for his safety and stayed holed up in his department until the soon-to-be ex-K9 officer left.
“Officers spoke with (Amiri), and then told me that I should not leave the building because Mr. Amiri was possibly armed and may hurt me. They advised me he was not thinking rationally and was extremely agitated,” Vigil wrote. “I was concerned for my own safety and the safety of others at the Antioch Police Department while Mr. Amiri was on the premises.”
Federal prosecutors have revealed this hostile standoff, which ended when Amiri simply left, in their bid to throw Amiri behind bars. He was convicted last week of using Purcy to bite a man who didn’t deserve and falsifying reports to cover up the incident, but acquitted of three other serious charges, including conspiracy.
One conviction, for deprivation of rights, is considered a violent offense. Prosecutors argue that alone is enough under the law to justify jailing Amiri until he is sentenced in June, but they’ve revealed other 2023 incidents involving Amiri in an attempt to prove he has a history of “erratic” behavior since the 2022 criminal probe that resulted in his conviction.
Amiri’s lawyers have responded that Amiri’s convictions are “aberrational and an uncharacteristic deviation from an otherwise exemplary life,” and that if he’s jailed he could be subject to retaliation from inmates and staff. They say he has “strong” community ties, runs his own business, and is needed to support his family, including a loved one who developed a medical condition after the August 2023 FBI raids on his home.
“The persistent threat of violence (in jail), coupled with the isolating reality of protective custody or administrative segregation, which is a likely outcome given his background, can inflict profound psychological distress,” Amiri’s lawyers wrote in a motion.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White is set to rule on the motion Tuesday afternoon.
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