CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A Waldorf man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday for charges stemming from a theft that took place at a Lowe’s and a forklift attack that took place at a Home Depot in 2023.
The Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) said in a news release that 22-year-old Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown was charged with second-degree murder, fourth-degree burglary and two theft charges.
CCSAO said that on July 2, 2023, Charles County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Waldorf Lowe’s store for a burglary in progress.
Employees and managers who were working overnight told responding officers that they had heard loud banging noises. They also saw damage to the store’s roll-up doors and security gates.
Officers then responded to a nearby Home Depot. There, employees said they had heard a loud scream. Responding deputies found Gloristine Pinkney partially pinned under a forklift.
Responders declared her dead at the scene.
Investigators determined that Brown worked for Lowe’s at the time. He stole a forklift from the store’s back lot and drove it out of the store, causing the dmaage to the rear gates and roll-up door. He went to the Home Depot’s parking lot, where he hit a parked car with the forklift.
CCSAO said that Pinkney was asleep in the car when Brown hit it. She got out of the car and tried to escape, but Brown followed her and ran her over with the forklift.
Officials said that Pinkney and Brown did not know each other.
After that, Brown escaped in Pinkney’s car. He used her credit card to buy gas, traveling to D.C. and Virginia before going back to his home in Waldorf.
“This is a terrible situation; it affects your family and Ms. Pinkney’s family. Your family will get to see you and talk to you, but Ms. Pinkney’s family will not. It’s sad all the way around,” Judge William R. Greer, Jr. said, according to CCSAO.
“It’s clear there was a mental health issue, but it’s not clear that what happened was a result of that. I can’t overlook how horrendous that action was,” Greer said.
After his prison sentence, Brown will have to serve five years of supervised probation. If he violates his probation, he may have to spend another 18 years in prison.
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