William Melendez
News spread fast recently when the city of Inkster chose to make a police brutality lawsuit go away by paying motorist Floyd Dent $1.37 million.
Inkster cop William Melendez, who has since been fired, was seen on video repeatedly beating on Dent during a traffic stop. Melendez was fired and now faces criminal charges in the case.
Residents were none too happy to learn that they would have to pay out more summer property taxes to pay for the lawsuit.
Now, we learn that Melendez is involved in another police brutality case that is costing the city's residents even more.
Elisha Anderson of the Detroit Free Press reports that days after the settlement with Dent, Inkster settled another excessive force case involving Melendez, this time for $100,000.
Again, residents will have to pay out their pockets to cover that settlement.
The Freep reports that federal court documents show the $100,000 settlement stemmed from the July 2011 arrest of DeShawn Acklin. According to the lawsuit, he was handcuffed then choked and beaten until he lost consciousness. The lawsuit named the city of Inkster and seven Inkster officers, including Melendez.
The Freep writes:
Melendez was deposed last July and admitted to hitting Acklin twice — "once in his right eye and once in his left eye," according to a transcript.
But he gave a different version from Acklin of what led to the punches.
Melendez said he was looking for a suspect named "Johnny" in the area and wanted to investigate if the suspect was part of a group playing loud music just before 2 a.m. Acklin, Melendez said, ran from him and later swung at his face, making contact with his forearm.
"In my own defense, I struck Mr. Acklin with my right fist," Melendez said. He denied choking Acklin.
Acklin disputed Melendez's versions of events during his deposition. He said he was assaulted by two officers as others watched at a home on Isabelle Street. According to a court document, Acklin said he didn't run or resist arrest, didn't have drugs or attempt to fight police and never had a gun, which Melendez claimed.
