On Wednesday, May 1, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Palm Coast man after video evidence surfaced of him abusing his 91-year-old grandfather.
The victim and his wife reside in the Palm Coast’s W-section with his grandson, Brandon Valentine, 41. On April 14, deputies responded to the residence after receiving a report that Valentine had struck his grandfather. Both parties gave conflicting reports and deputies did not observe any injuries and the video footage at that time was dark and not usable. Valentine told deputies he would send in better quality video that he said would clear him of any wrongdoing.
On May 1, Deputy Sanders responded to the residence again after the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) received additional allegations of abuse from the victim’s daughter who lives out of state. Deputy Sanders and Major Case Detective Kusek conducted an investigation and obtained a warrant for Valentine’s arrest signed by the Honorable Judge Distler. One of the most critical pieces of evidence they received was a video Valentine had recorded on his phone of the incident that occurred on April 14. In this video he is clearly seen lunging at the victim and a brief struggle ensues.
Valentine was arrested for Abuse of Elderly or Disabled Adult without Great Harm and Battery – Person Over 65. He was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility where he is currently being held on $10,000 bond.
“This man was responsible for caring for his elderly relative. Instead, he chose to mistreat and abuse his elderly grandfather,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “Fortunately, he’s not very smart and provided the video evidence that helped our investigators confirm the allegations of abuse. I want to commend our team and our partners at DCF for helping our team to investigate this abuse. If you abuse an elderly person you are responsible for caring for, you can expect to have a room at the Green Roof Inn where you cannot abuse them again.”
For video footage of the incident: https://bit.ly/3Qw4Bdv
