Dashcam Catches Florida Police Officer Attacking and Beating Unarmed Man

Melbourne, Florida police officer Derek Middendorf was caught on the dashboard camera of his police car attacking and viciously beating 66-year-old Albert Flowers.

The graphic video shows the victim, Mr. Flowers, walking toward officer Middendorf when the burly police appears to kick him in the groin without warning or apparent provocation.

According to reports, the incident began when police responded to a 911 call that Flowers had been wielding a knife. The International Business Times reported that the officer “claimed Flowers walked aggressively towards him and could not tell if Flowers had a knife.”

After initially kicking Mr. Flowers in the groin and knocking him to the ground, the dashcam video shows the officer punching him repeatedly around the head and neck. A few moments later, another officer appears holding what appears to be a taser weapon. According to the International Business Times, the “second officer then tased him in the face.”

Ultimately, police charged Flowers with battery of a law enforcement officer.

This is how things stood until the dashcam video surfaced.

The shocking footage was acquired by local television news station WFTV. According to the station, “The officer turned off his video and audio equipment before the beating.” Technicians with the police department, however, were “able to extract the video from the hard drive, but not the audio,” the television station reported.

According to family members who witnessed the attack, Flowers, who owns a landscaping business, never pulled a knife and that issues had been resolved prior to the police arriving on the scene.

When the police attack began, Flower’s nephew, Garrick Flowers, told WFTV that he yelled for the officer to stop the attack and that his uncle had dementia.

“He’s 66 yeas old, he had a triple bypass, I think he’s killing him,” Garrick Flowers told the TV station.

Following the attack, Mr. Flowers was hospitalized for nearly a month. Meanwhile, Officer Middendorf received a written reprimand for turning off the recording equipment.

Mr. Flowers is now planning on suing the Melbourne Police Department.

“Clearly from this video there was no assault on a law enforcement officer,” Paul Bross, attorney for Mr. Flowers, told WFTV. “We asked for a speedy trial. We want a jury to see this video.”