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K9 Cop Accused of Abuse Cleared After Man Admits to Lying Under Oath

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ATLANTIC CITY – A lawyer Monday questioned the honesty of a man claiming a city K-9 officer misused his dog.

Antonio Sye, 47, of Atlantic City, is suing Officer William Logan and the city, claiming that after he was subdued and handcuffed Aug. 5, 2005, the officer ordered his dog to attack.

Sye testified in the civil trial Thursday that he was lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind him when Logan brought over his dog, Deuce, and gave a hand command. The dog then jumped around, hesitating before biting Sye three times on the arm, Sye testified.

But, during questioning from Logan’s attorney Monday, Sye said he pleaded guilty to a probation violation that he says he did not commit.

“You’re saying you took the same oath to tell the truth you have taken here and you ultimately lied?” asked Mike Riley, who is representing Logan.

Sye said he pleaded guilty because his attorney advised him that was how he would get back his former spot in a drug-treatment program that kept him out of jail.

“So I pled,” he said.

“Under oath,” Riley added. “You lied to get a benefit, correct?”

“Yes,” Sye replied.

However, he maintained he has told the truth about the attack.

Police who were at the scene have testified that the dog was never released and that they never heard Sye scream for help.

“Every officer lied in this case,” Sye told Riley during questioning. “They heard. They turned a deaf ear.”

Sye pointed out the bites on large photos, including marks on his right shoulder that the emergency room doctor who examined him right after the incident said were not new wounds.

“Each time the dog bit me, (the officers) laughed,” Sye said later, under questioning from the city’s lawyer, Sean Adam.

Sye was originally questioned during an investigation into shots being fired about 3 a.m. Aug. 5, 2005, but claims he was arrested hours later – after being cleared of the gun call – because he tried to get help for his injuries. The defense says Sye was arrested because he was wanted on a warrant but originally gave police a fake name.

On Monday, Sye said shots were never even fired that night. Sitting in Brown Memorial Park with a friend for hours before the incident, he testified they never heard anything.

“So the officers were all lying?” Riley asked. “And anyone who would come up here and testify they heard shots would be lying?”

“There wasn’t no shots,” Sye insisted. “I’m telling you, there were no shots at all.”

Sye’s attorney, Lou McFadden, rested his case Monday.

Logan is expected to testify today. Also scheduled to take the stand is a dog-bite expert the defense has said will show that the marks on Sye’s arm could not have been caused by Deuce.

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