Robocop's Boss Steps Down as Heat Continues on Police Brutality

William “Robocop” Melendez, 46, turned himself in Tuesday and was arraigned on four felony charges in connection with a videotaped beating of a black suspect. (Photo via Michigan State Police)

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A day after a Detroit cop was arraigned on felony charges stemming from a violent beating of a black suspect that was caught on video and sparked nationwide outrage, the chief of the embattled Inkster Police Department stepped down.

On Wednesday, Inkster Police Chief Vicki Yost resigned, saying she and the city were “not on the same page” after the arrest of William L. Melendez, 46, of Novi, was met with renewed calls by civil rights and other groups to clean up the Inkster Police Department.

A brief statement from the city confirmed Yost’s resignation, and wished her “the best in future endeavors,” The Detroit News reports.

Wayne County Kym Worthy said Monday her office wasn’t aware of the allegations against Melendez until the video, which allegedly shows the officer kicking and punching 57-year-old autoworker Floyd Dent during a routine traffic stop last January, surfaced in March during Dent’s felony drug trial.

The call for police reform in metro Detroit mirror conversations taking place on a national stage. When she announced the charges Monday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said recent allegations of police brutality seem “out of control,” both locally and nationally.

President Obama has said a spate of allegations of police brutality across the country draw attention to the “simmering distrust that exists between too many police departments and too many communities of color.”

Get Tough on Bad Cops

Prosecutors have an obligation to go after bad cops, Worthy said Monday. “We cannot turn our heads when law enforcement becomes the lawbreaker,” she said.

Melendez was charged with misconduct in office and mistreatment of a prisoner, both five-year felonies, and two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, 10-year felonies. He was arraigned Tuesday in Inkster’s 22nd District Court after turning himself into Michigan State Police.

Dent, a free man after the charges against him were formally dismissed Tuesday, is savoring what he sees as a step toward justice, but he would like to question Melendez about the beating that sent him to the hospital for three days.

“I’d like to ask him, why’d he beat me like that? I mean, he had no reason to do it,” Dent told the Detroit Free Press. ”So now that he’s behind bars and everything, he should feel the pain I felt. “

Melendez spent only a brief time behind bars and has been released on bond.

David Lee, the beleaguered cop’s attorney, told the Free Press that he hopes people will keep an open mind about Melendez, who Lee said has been “vilified in the media,” but has “an army of support.”

Melendez was fired by the Inkster City Council, and authorities in Highland Park, where he moonlighted part time, followed suit.

“We Found Out He Was ‘Robocop’ ”

This week’s developments were about a year in coming for Crystal Linton, an activist with the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network who has been trying to get Melendez’s badge for about a year.

Three complaints raising issues of racial profiling and police brutality surfaced long before the release of a damning video on which Melendez’s future as a police officer may eventually hinge.

“That prompted us to look into his background,” Linton told The Detroit News, “and we found out he was ‘Robocop.’”

Related:

• ‘Robocop,’ Accused of Severely Beating Black Man in Traffic Stop, Has Notorious History
• ‘Robocop,’ Fired Over Brutal Arrest Video, Moonlights for Nearby Department
• Prosecutor Announces Decision on ‘Robocop’: Watch

Robocop – a moniker given in a bow to Melendez’s muscled physique – is one of the metro Detroit area’s most notorious cops.

During his time on the Detroit Police Department, he cost the city more than $1 million to settle a lawsuit in the death of an unarmed man shot 11 times; was the subject of more citizen complaints than any other officer in the city: and was among 17 who were indicted, but later acquitted, in an eight-count federal corruption indictment.

In all, he was named in a dozen lawsuits alleging excessive force and questioning his fitness as a police officer, including a current civil rights complaint on the U.S. District Court docket that bears some striking similarities to the now-dismissed case against Dent.

Why Weren’t Others Charged?

Groups such as the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality said the charges against Melendez beg for a thorough house cleaning and reassessment of Inkster’s hiring practices.

“We have called for justice in this matter, and we feel that today’s charges are a step in the right direction to give Mr. Dent, and the entire community, a proper resolution,” the group’s spokesman, Ron Scott, said in a statement to The Detroit News.

Greg Rohl, one of Dent’s attorneys, told The Detroit News he was disappointed that only Melendez is being charged. Worthy said Monday her office had concluded its investigation, and no other charges are expected.

“It’s a great day for the legal system,” Rohl said Monday, adding that he “would like to see others ... held accountable for their actions. Others stood by and did nothing or were complacent in trying to (frame Dent).”

Watch the video of Dent’s arrest below.