SAN DIEGO — Lance Cpl. John Eugene Brand, who is based at MCAS Miramar, is facing six felonies including vehicular manslaughter and kidnapping after a fatal police chase Monday night.
Brand pleaded not guilty as he stood before Judge Matthew Brower at his arraignment in North County Superior Thursday with visible bruises over his right eye, at times shaking his head in disagreement with the charges against him.
“It’s alleged he committed what’s essentially a kidnapping of a member of our community by refusing to let her and her colleague out of the vehicle,” said Judge Brower. “He drove that vehicle at very high rates of speed.”
According to the District Attorney’s office, Brand stole a military pickup truck from MCAS Miramar Monday and drove with two women to a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Escondido. Police said they stole merchandise from the store and when officers arrived, the trio took off in the pickup and a high-speed pursuit ensued.
“The two female passengers begged the defendant to stop. He refused saying that he was not going to go to jail,” said deputy district attorney Helen Kim. “He drove in excess of 90 miles per hour, ran through red lights, drove on the opposite side of the road and collided into a pole.”
The two women were thrown from the vehicle before Brand exited the truck and ran off. Escondido police found him hiding a block away from the crashed vehicle and arrested him.
One of the women, 18-year-old Shevondia Compare-Bell, died at the hospital, while the other, Tiara Elizabeth Sams, also 18 years old, suffered major injuries but survived. Compare-Bell’s family was in court Thursday.
“They’re devastated, they’re emotional,” said Kim. “Obviously they’re not in the right frame of mind to even provide much of a statement at this time.”
According to a spokesperson at Miramar, Brand is from Kansas and joined the Marine Corps a little more than two years ago.
Last month, he was allegedly involved in an attempted carjacking with a knife in the South Bay. He was out on bail and under court order to remain on base at the time of Monday’s fatal police chase.
“He is a clear and present danger to the public and there are no conditions and no combination of conditions that will ensure the public safety or ensure that the defendant return to court,” said Kim in court as she argued that Brand was a flight risk.
Judge Brower denied bail. Brand’s charges include evading an officer causing death, evading an officer causing serious bodily injury, false imprisonment, kidnapping, vehicular manslaughter, unlawfully taking and driving a vehicle, as well as a petty theft misdemeanor. He is facing 18 years and 6 months in prison if convicted on all charges in this case, and will be back in court in February.
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