CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The man who accused a Westlake detective of an April 2014 beating told a jury Tuesday that he was filled with a sense of dread as the accused officer led him to an unmarked SUV.

Teddie Abadie said he wasn't told that he was under arrest or for what charge. Instead, Abadie said that Robert Toth and his partner, officer Jeremiah Bullins, placed him in the backseat and peppered him with questions about an ongoing drug investigation.

During the drive, both Toth and his partner threatened to kill his Abadie's dog and said they were going to ransack his apartment in the Flats if he didn't tell them what they wanted to hear, Abadie testified.

"I had a feeling something really bad was going to happen," he said.

Toth stopped the SUV at one point and Bullins punched him in the chest, Abadie said. Toth kept driving until they got to a cemetery. Toth told him that he was going to take off his handcuffs off "so you can defend yourself."

Instead, Toth wrapped the seat belt around Abadie's neck three times and choked him for between 15 and 30 seconds, he said.

Toth, 49 of North Olmsted is charged with beating Abadie during an investigation into Sidney Booty, now a convicted drug dealer. Prosecutors also said Toth punched Abadie in the face, threw him to the ground and kicked him in the ribs before placing him in the SUV.

When Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice asked what officer hit him, he said Toth's name. Abadie refused to look toward Toth, who was wearing his police department dress uniform.

Much of Tuesday's testimony came from Abadie, who maintained his soft-spoken demeanor even as defense attorney Kevin Spellacy pushed him and sought to point out inconsistencies in prior statements to the FBI.

Spellacy did his best to live up to his opening statement and tried to portray Abadie as a drug-addled degenerate. He forced Abadie to discuss a side business that involved Abadie and his girlfriend performing sex acts for money on a webcam.

Abadie remained calm and said that while his memory is hazy on some details, the beating is still crystal clear.

"The best thing I can see in my mind is being plummeted to the ground when I see these set of facts," Abadie said.

He said that he was terrified, but more scared for beagle mix named Nugget, that both officers threatened to kill several times.

Rice played video surveillance from the Westlake city jail where Abadie can be heard telling a jail staffer: "I don't care about my freedom, but I care about my dog." He did not disclose any of the details of the events that are now at the center of the criminal charges against Toth.

The trial is expected to continue through the week.