Tony Sader pleaded guilty to assault and resist arrest charges after siege

A father barricaded himself inside his Illawong home when police turned up to arrest him. Find out the petty reason that led to the dramatic incident.

A builder has admitted to assaulting his neighbours when their tree obstructed his water view leading to him barricading himself inside his Illawong home when police arrived to arrest him, a court has heard.

Tony Lee Sader, 43, appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault, assaulting an officer in the execution of their duty and resisting police officers in the execution of their duty.

Court documents tendered to court said Sader owns three properties which he pays mortgages for and also runs three companies in the building industry.

Sader has had an ongoing issue with trees planted on his neighbours’ property, and the residents had come to verbal agreements for the neighbour to prune the branches so as to not block Sader’s view of the Georges River.

Builder Tony Sader pleaded guilty to common assault of his neighbours over a tree blocking his view. He then refused arrest and locked himself in his Illawong house during a siege situation with police. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

On March 5, Sader sent his neighbour a text message asking, “what are you planning to do with the trees” to which the neighbour replied, “it’s been too wet, I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll text you to unlock the gate”.

However, Sader was not satisfied with the response and sent, “I expect my view to be unobstructed from any trees” with his neighbour responding, “we’ll see what you’re talking about tomorrow”.

Sader then called his neighbour and yelled loudly into the phone and didn’t let the man respond, the court documents said.

They agreed to meet out the front of their properties to talk and the neighbour started filming their interaction, worried about the way Sader had yelled at him.

The man’s wife also heard the yelling and walked out onto the front of the house before also filming the confrontation.

The neighbours then had heated arguments about the trees blocking Sader’s view, the court documents said.

The man asked Sader not to accidentally spit on him while yelling because they were standing close together prompting Sader to purposely spit in the man’s face, the documents said.

Tony Sader left Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

Sader continued arguing with the neighbours before he picked up a 10cm wide rock and threw it with force at the woman while yelling at her.

The rock bounced several metres away from the woman but the action made her scared, the documents said.

Sader started running at the woman but her husband blocked his path and Sader barged into him before he hit the man’s face with his open right palm.

The altercation only stopped when Sader’s partner told him to go inside and the neighbour called police.

Officers arrived the next day and took statements from the couple, along with copies of their videos before they went next door to Sader’s house.

Sader answered the door and was told he was under arrest and would be taken to Sutherland Police Station.

Sader said he could not go with them and would attend the following day despite being told multiple times he must go with the officers, the documents said.

Sader became aggressive and yelled at the officers to “get out of my house” before he pushed a constable’s upper body with both hands out of the door, the documents said.

He quickly closed and locked the door prompting officers to call for backup.

Sader yelled at the officers from his upstairs balcony while they tried to coax him back downstairs.

Officers were fearful of his potential actions, but Sader opened the door and sat in the doorway before the police warned they would handcuff him.

Sader stood up and ran back inside the house, closing and locking the door again, the documents said.

Sader returned to the balcony while officers continued to talk to him to come downstairs, telling him multiple times he was under arrest.

More police officers arrived, including a supervisor, who requested he open the door but he refused, the documents said.

Police tactical operation units and the dog unit were contacted to help negotiate with Sader in what was turned into a domestic siege situation.

However, after 33 minutes, Sader opened the door however began closing it again but officers were able to keep it open, the documents said.

Sader eventually walked out, was handcuffed and was taken to Sutherland Police Station where he was charged.

During the brief mention at court on Tuesday, Sader’s lawyer entered guilty pleas on behalf of her client before the case was adjourned to the end of July.