DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit-area police officer whose beating of a motorist was captured on dashcam video has been sentenced to at least 13 months in prison for assault.
William Melendez was an Inkster police officer a year ago when he stopped Floyd Dent, who was pulled from his car after rolling through a stop sign and punched in the head 16 times.
In a statement a family member read in court Tuesday, the 58-year-old Dent says Melendez stopped him because he was a "black man in a Cadillac."
Melendez told a judge he's "truly sorry."
The maximum punishment is 10 years in prison. It's up to the parole board when to release Melendez.
Melendez was fired after WDIV-TV aired the video last March. Inkster agreed to pay $1.4 million to Dent
