An Egyptian national has pleaded guilty to charges of harming an animal used in law enforcement, after kicking a K9 police dog so hard it was “lifted off the ground” and into the air.
Hamed Aly Marie, 70, was ordered to pay vets fees for the dog, whose name was Freddy, and was then immediately deported by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, after his appearance in the U.S. District Court, in Virginia, on Wednesday.
During the incident at Washington Dulles International Airport, Marie “violently” booted Freddy, a 25-pound agriculture detector Beagle, after he and his handler approached him by the baggage claim area.
According to a federal air marshal affidavit, obtained by The Independent, the incident occurred just after 6.30 a.m. Freddy and his handler were conducting “normal roving patrols of the baggage claim area” where luggage from an Egypt Air flight was waiting to be claimed.
Freddy is an Agricultural K9 Beagle trained to find illicit agricultural contraband that is being brought into the United States, and was “in uniform” at the time of the incident, the affidavit stated.
According to the affidavit, the passenger who owned the luggage, and was later identified as Marie by his passport and visa approached Freddy and his handler and began to speak with them
“Shortly after the conversation began, Marie kicked K9 Freddy,” the document stated. “K9 Freddy was kicked so hard that he was lifted off of the ground. K9 Freddy was injured and was taken to the veterinary emergency room.”
Officers immediately descended upon Marie, handcuffed him, and turned him over to Homeland Security Investigations agents for prosecution.
The vet later determined that Freddy suffered contusions to his right forward rib area, according to USCBP.
CBP agriculture specialists conducted a subsequent baggage examination of Marie’s luggage based on Freddy’s alert and discovered 55 pounds of beef meat, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers, and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds, and a pound of herbs.
All agriculture products were prohibited from entering the United States and seized.
“Being caught deliberately smuggling well over one hundred pounds of undeclared and prohibited agriculture products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenseless Customs and Border Protection beagle,” said Christine Waugh, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C.
“We rely heavily on our K9 partners and Freddie was just doing his job. Any malicious attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and CBP will continue to work with our investigating and prosecuting partners to deal swift and severe justice to perpetrators.”
