Driver accused of swerving at Copeland woman sentenced to two years in prison

A man accused of speeding and swerving into a Copeland woman's driveway earlier this year, forcing her to run to get out of the way, was sentenced to two years in state prison Tuesday.

Ethan Brown, 28, of LaBelle, faced a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced by Collier Circuit Court Judge Christine Greider.  A jury had found Brown guilty after his two-day trial.

His sentence will be followed by three years of probation.

According to his score sheet — a point system that provides sentencing guidelines in Florida — Brown faced a minimum permissible sentence of about 19 months and a maximum sentence of five years.

The resident told deputies Brown was speeding past her Copeland home Feb. 27 in his white pickup when she yelled at him to slow down because her children were playing in her front yard.

A few minutes later, while she was still standing in her driveway, Brown returned, sped up again and "intentionally headed straight for her and tried to hit her with his pickup truck," the woman told deputies. 

The pickup's tire marks "show that he made a change from going straight on the main road and then swerved into" the woman's driveway, according to a Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

The woman told deputies Brown's truck came close enough "that she was able to smack the driver's window with the palm of her hand," the report states.

She said she "was running to get out of the way" and noticed that Brown "was laughing," according to the report.

The woman's boyfriend, who also lives at the Copeland home, told deputies he saw Brown "drive erratic, reckless and speeding past his driveway."

He said he thought Brown intentionally drove toward his girlfriend "to run her over" and that he feared for her and his children's safety, the report states.

Deputies arrested Brown later that day during a traffic stop.

His public defender, Robert Allen Jr., said he could not comment on his client's case.