Floyd Dent, a Detroit man who was brutally beaten by police during a January traffic stop, accused officers this week of using excessive force and planting evidence during the violent altercation, a video of which was released Wednesday.
The video tape, caught on police dash camera, shows Inkster police officer William Melendez repeatedly beating Dent in the head as he laid on top of the 57-year-old auto worker after Dent was
dragged out of his vehicle, the Detroit Free Press reported.
"He was beating me upside the head," Dent said at a news conference at his attorney's office Wednesday. "I was trying to protect my face with my right arm. I heard one of them say, 'tase the mother f***er. '"
The video also shows another officer kicking Dent and yet another one shooting him with a Taser. Dent was hospitalized for two days to treat his face and head injuries, including a fractured left orbital, blood on the brain, and four broken ribs.
Police claim they had to get aggressive with Dent after he refused to put his hands behind his back, resisted arrest, and bit one of the officers. The officer who claimed Dent bit him did not seek medical attention or photograph the
bite marks for evidence, according to ClickOnDetroit.com.
The Wayne County prosecutor's office initially charged Dent with resisting a police officer, simple assault and battery of a police officer, operating a motor vehicle while license suspended or revoked, and possession of cocaine, which Dent insists was
planted on him by police, according to MLive.com.
A county district judge, though, threw out the assault and battery, and resisting an officer charges at Dent's pretrial hearing. He will appear in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit April 1 to be arraigned on the cocaine charge, MLive.com noted.
At the news conference, Dent and his lawyer insisted there's a part in the video that shows the officers planting the drugs.
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