(CMR) Jayson Joel Brown (28) plead guilty to three out of four offenses relating to an attack on his ex-girlfriend and her friends in late March that went viral on social media. Despite these guilty pleas and an eyewitness, he refused to plead guilty to the more serious offense of grabbing the victim by the hair and dragging her with his car when he appeared in court on October 19.
The court heard how Brown was with the woman off and on for five years and there were numerous separations. At the time of the incident, the pair had separated for about two months because of his alleged cheating and ongoing abuse. There had been at least three reports of physical abuse made to the police prior to this incident. The complainant said that she had to deal with numerous threats and assaults during the relationship.
She had not previously pursued the other incidents but on this occasion provided the police with photographic and video evidence demonstrating a clear history of abuse.
In the early morning hours of March of this year, she had been dropped off by a male friend after going out for the night. It was upon the return home that Brown grabbed her at 6:42 am and proceeded to assault her causing injury to her knees side of her left leg left elbow fingers neck and forehead. There was video footage from that assault that was on social media showing how he rushed her and tackled her to the ground before his friend was able to pull him off. She described a vicious assault of him hitting her repeatedly that required treatment at the hospital.
He then proceeded to take her mobile phone and went back to his vehicle with it where he banged it on the garbage bin two times and threw it to the ground.
As she bent down to pick up the phone he then grabbed her from his moving vehicle by her hair and drove off dragging her on the ground. He drove about 60 meters before he let her go and sped away.
The police later discovered that he had also attacked her girlfriend earlier that morning at 5:40 am while attempting to locate her. He then attempted to hit the male companion that dropped her home with his vehicle twice.
His mother refused to give a statement to the police but did confirm that she had given her son the vehicle for his job as a painter.
He was charged with assault causing actual bodily harm, reckless and negligent act for dragging the victim with his vehicle, reckless and negligent act for driving at the male companion and damage to property for destroying her $1,000 Samsung Note 10 cellular phone.
In the end Brown admitted to damaging the phone, attacking her at her home and attacking her friend but refused to admit to stalking her dragging her while striving. He plead guilty to the first and second accounts with guilty with explanation to count 3 which was running down her friend with his car.
There was an independent eyewitness who gave a statement to seeing him drag her but the DPP decided to review that charge. The court ordered a domestic violence assessment and a victim impact report ahead of his sentencing on December 1.
His lawyer is defense attorney Crister Brady.
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