Man claims Inkster police used excessive force

Video shows an officer punching a man more than a dozen times. Wednesday, the man at the center of it all, Floyd Dent, spoke out about the incident.

Dent can be seen being pulled from behind the wheel of a Cadillac on police dash cam video. He says a drive through Inkster on January 28th, changed his life when police used excessive force.

"It's very hard. I tried going to work, working for a couple of weeks, but I can't," he said. "I had nightmares and that's why I didn't want to look at the tape, because when I saw it the other day and how they treated me, it was unbelievable."

With his attorney by his side and a group of supporters behind him, Dent described what happens after seeing the police lights flashing in his rear-view mirror, when he was stopped by police for running a stop sign.

"An officer ran up to me with a gun and told me get out the car or I will blow your brains out," said Dent.

Officers then put Dent in a choke hold and repeatedly punched him in the head.

"While this guy was beating me, I'm protecting my face with my right arm," said Dent. "Somebody came and kicked me in the ribs and I heard somebody in the background say tase him."

Dent said there were times when he feared for his life.

"He choked me, nearly choked me to death," Dent said. "I told him I can't breathe and he kept on choking me."

"There was total lack of police protocol in the application of the Taser three times or four times," said Gregory Rohl, Dent's attorney.

According to the Inkster police chief, two agencies are looking at allegations of excessive force, state police along with an internal investigation.

"We are not hiding from this, we started the investigation," said Inkster Police Chief Vicki Yost. "We launched the investigation internally without a complaint being filed, so we're going to follow the facts and where the facts lead us we'll take appropriate action."

Cocaine was found in Dent's Cadillac. Dent's attorney claims the drugs were planted.

"I saw it and my associate has brought it to my attention," said Rohl.

Initially, Dent was charged with assault, resisting arrest, fleeing and evading and cocaine possession. He was offered a plea deal for probation but turned it down.

"He told me an innocent man doesn't plead guilty," said Rohl.

Dent and his attorney say they have a meeting scheduled with the chief of police along with the city manager of Inkster to try to come to some resolution without the need for a lawsuit.