Perhaps Albert Flowers, the 66-year-old Melbourne, Florida man hospitalized for a month after being beaten by a cop, committed “battery on an officer” by bleeding on the armored thug who kicked him in the stomach, then slugged and choked him until one of his boyfriends arrived to Taser the helpless elderly man in the face. In filing his report, Derek Middendorf, the paunchy revenue hog who assaulted Flowers (and 2008 Officer of the Year for the department), did what people in his profession always do — he lied. Specifically, he invented a story that the 66-year-old, who suffers from senile dementia and has endured a triple-bypass, walked “aggressively” toward him, leaving no choice for the stalwart hero in blue but a full-blown assault. That the felonious attack was a premeditated crime is strongly suggested by the fact that Middendorf violated department policy by turning off his dash-cam before waddling into the driveway. Fortunately the video was retrieved from the device’s hard drive. The department, which placed Middendorf on leave for an “injury,” imposed a pointless administrative punishment on Middendorf for turning off the camera — not for nearly beating and choking to death a sick, defenseless old man.