Florida man who kicked deputy, police dog sentenced to 12 years in prison

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A man who was found guilty of kicking a deputy and police dog was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison.

Dennis Lamar Flint was convicted of battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, battery to a police dog and possession of a controlled substance after a two-day trial in Lee County last month.

In November, deputies were responding to a call about a reckless driver in Fort Myers when they received another call about a crash involving a similar vehicle. Deputies found a damaged car in the median with no driver, authorities said.

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A K-9 unit found Flint in the backyard of a nearby home. When deputies attempted to take him into custody, he kicked an officer in the chest four times.

Deputies used a taser on Flint, and then a police dog bit his leg to pull him out of the yard. He then kicked the dog twice, authorities said.

Flint hit another deputy in the arm before he was handcuffed. While being transported to jail, Flint was repeatedly hitting his head on the partition in the car between the front and backseat and deputies pepper sprayed him.

Upon arriving at the jail, two small bags of drugs were found on the rear seat of the car.

The deputies involved suffered minor injuries and have since made a full recovery, authorities said.