Floyd Dent
Following a preliminary examination in Inkster's 22nd District Court Thursday, former Inkster cop William Melendez was ordered to stand trial for assault in the beating of motorist Floyd Dent, WDIV reports.
Judge Sabrina Johnson, in ordering the trial go forwarded, approved the addition of a third charge: assault with strangulation, WDIV reports.
The ruling came just one day after it became public that the city of Inkster had agreed to settle Dent's police-brutality lawsuit for $1.4 million.
Dent testified in Thursday's hearing, WDIV reports, saying:
“He was choking me and he choked me so hard I couldn’t breathe Then he started beating me in the right side of my head.”
He said he has some memory loss as a result of the beating.
WDIV reports that Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Donaldson said a urine test at the hospital indicated drugs in Dent's system, but a State Police blood test showed no evidence of drugs.
Dent had faced drug charges after police claimed they found crack in his car during the January traffic stop. But Dent claimed the drugs were planted in the car and the charges were eventually dismissed.
