National
Man Beaten by Police Cries After Fired Officer Charged
In this still from a police dash-cam video, a bloodied Floyd Dent is seen after being beaten and tasered during a traffic stop in January. Dent was reportedly protecting himself from being beaten and choked when he was arrested by Inkster police (Inkster Police Department)
DETROIT (USA Today) — A motorist whose arrest was caught on a patrol car video as he was repeatedly punched in the head by an Inkster, Mich., police officer welcomed the news Monday that the officer was being criminally charged.
Floyd Dent, 55, of Detroit, who was hospitalized for injuries he endured during his Jan. 28 arrest, “was overcome with emotion, cried and was obviously relieved” by the announcement from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy earlier Monday, his attorney said.
At a news conference Monday afternoon in Novi, Dent thanked people who stood beside him during “this horrific nightmare.”
His brief statement with his attorney came after Worthy announced felony charges have been issued against former Inkster police officer William Melendez. The fired 46-year-old officer faces charges of misconduct in office mistreatment of a prisoner, a five-year felony, and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony.
