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Officer beats 66-year-old man suffering from dementia

MELBOURNE, Fla.,None — WFTV obtained dash camera video of a violent police beating in Melbourne.

The video shows an officer attacking a 66–year-old man who WFTV learned is suffering from dementia.

In the video, Melbourne police Officer Derek Middendorf is shown giving Albert Flowers a front kick to his stomach.

Middendorf then punched Flowers repeatedly while he was on the ground.

In a report, Middendorf said Flowers walked towards him in an aggressive manner at a fast pace and he couldn't tell whether he had a knife in his hands.

Flowers' nephew, Garrick Flowers, said he yelled at the officer to stop and told him his uncle has dementia.

"He's 66 years old, he had triple bypass, I think he's killing him," said Garrick Flowers.

Flowers owns a lawn care business, and said an employee called the police because he said Flowers pulled a knife on him during a fight about money.

When police arrived, the family said Flowers never pulled a knife and that the issue had been resolved.

"Everything was taken care of. If he forgot, I was there to take care of whatever," said Garrick Flowers.

The family said Middendorf was choking Flowers, and the video shows another officer running over and tasing Flowers in the face.

The family said Flowers was hospitalized for close to a month.

The officer turned off his video and audio equipment before the beating. The department was able to extract the video from the hard drive, but not the audio.

The only disciplinary record the officer received for the incident was a written reprimand for turning off the recording equipment.

Flowers was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer.

"It's ridiculous. Clearly from this video there was no assault on a law enforcement officer. We asked for a speedy trial. We want a jury to see this video," attorney Paul Bross said.

The police chief said he could not comment on the allegations of excessive force, because he had not yet seen the complaint, which was filed on Friday.