A former Antioch police officer, Morteza Amiri, was found guilty of civil rights deprivation and record falsification from a 2019 incident where he assaulted a bicyclist and deployed his K-9.

A federal jury convicted a former Antioch Police Department officer on Friday who used his K-9 excessively to bite suspects and “kept a running a bite count that he celebrated with other officers,” prosecutors said.

After closing arguments, the jury in the federal trial of former Antioch police officer Morteza Amiri will decide whether the evidence is enough to find that Amiri conspired to violate civil rights, used unreasonable force on three specific occasions,

A federal trial started Monday against two former Antioch police officers accused of conspiring to injure, threaten and intimidate suspects from 2019 to 2022. Prosecutors allege Morteza Amiri and Devon Wenger used excessive force in five instances.

The jury’s verdict on Friday capped a trial that saw the officer’s own colleagues – including a former close friend – testify against him.