DETROIT (AURN/WWJ/AP) – A white, former Inkster police officer was found guilty Thursday of assault and misconduct in the bloody beating of a black driver during a traffic stop that was captured on video.
Wayne County jurors handed down the verdict in the case against William Melendez, who was charged in the January beating of Floyd Dent, in Tweet below.
Inkster cop beating victim hopes verdict brings healing https://t.co/cASKu5ezzY #FloydDent pic.twitter.com/3iL0yOz4in
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) November 22, 2015
Police stopped Dent, 58, in the Detroit suburb of Inkster for disregarding a stop sign, and dashcam video from a police vehicle shows Melendez punching him 16 times in the head.
It wasn’t until after footage in March that Melendez was fired. Inkster later agreed to pay $1.4 million to Dent, who suffered broken ribs, blood on his brain and other injuries.
The jurors found Melendez guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and of misconduct in office.
Meantime, comments during the sentencing hearing from Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans went viral:
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Melendez was cleared of a charge of assault by strangulation. Earlier, jurors said they’d been struggling with the count of strangulation. Judge Evans at the time told them to continue deliberating until they were unanimous.