A former Brooklyn cop was sentenced Wednesday to one day in jail and four years of probation nearly a year after he claimed a suspect almost ran him and his partner over with a car—until a video surfaced months later that showed he lied.

The former NYPD officer, Michael Bergmann, claimed in grand jury testimony and a criminal complaint that he had to jump out of the way of a car as a suspect drove off, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.

Bergmann and his partner were searching for a burglary suspect in Sunset Park, according to prosecutors. In an unmarked cop car, they pulled up next to the apparent suspect's car along 65th Street between Second and Third avenues.

Bergmann claimed that when both officers got out of the car, the person they were searching for backed up the car and nearly hit the other officer, before driving forward and nearly hitting Bergmann, who also said he was directly in between the two headlights. He said he had to dive out of the way of the driver and suffered cuts on his elbow from the fall.

That driver—Pedro Barbosa—was arrested a couple of days after the incident for stealing quarters from a laundry room, and, due to Bergmann's testimony, ultimately indicted for 10 counts of various assault charges, reckless endangerment charges, and driving without a license.

But a video that Brooklyn District Attorney's office received last May revealed an entirely different story.

Rather, Bergmann pulled up to the suspect's car, and when they got out, the suspect drove away without backing up at all. Bergmann did not have to jump out of the way. He was also not seen in between the two headlights, as he had claimed.

Bergmann pleaded guilty to the lie on November 8th, when the NYPD says they officially dismissed him from the department. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to one day in jail and four years' probation for charges of perjury, making a false statement and official misconduct, the Brooklyn DA's office announced. The DA had recommended six months behind bars.

"Our communities and our criminal justice system rely on the integrity and truthfulness of police officers so we must hold accountable those who abuse their positions and violate the public trust," DA Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.

Barbosa's public defender for this case, Scott Hechinger, said Bergmann's actions were "one of the worst things a human being could ever do to another: give false testimony that would put them in jail wrongfully."

"He did so brazenly and maliciously," Hechinger, a senior attorney at the Brooklyn Defender Services, told Gothamist by email. "He lied in sworn testimony before a grand jury."

Barbosa would have faced three-and-a-half to 15 years in prison for the charges, had public defender investigators not uncovered the video, according to Hechinger.

Bergmann was also among four officers sued for an incident in which officers "illegally trespassed, searched, invaded, intimidated and violated" a Brooklyn resident's civil rights after officers "threw him to the ground," court papers say. That case was settled for $175,000, data compiled by the Legal Aid Society show.

"Police lying is an epidemic not just in the NYPD, but in police forces around the country," Hechinger added. "I just hope that this punishment sends the necessary message of zero tolerance to all on the force. I fear it won’t."

Bergmann's lawyer John Tynan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.