A Montgomery County jury convicted a D.C. man Wednesday on charges related to a 2022 shooting at the Clyde’s Restaurant location in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
David Lee Brown III, 29, was found guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter, first-degree assault and use of a handgun, according to a news release from the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 14, 2022, charging documents show that Brown was having a verbal altercation with a woman outside the restaurant when she pushed him and blocked his attempt to go back inside.
A few minutes later, Brown and the woman began arguing in front of the restaurant again, according to the documents. The woman’s co-workers, who were with her at the restaurant, confronted Brown, who charging documents state started “getting physical with them.”
The statement of charges shows that Brown and the woman then entered his car, which was parked outside of Clyde’s. Then, Brown abruptly left the vehicle, slammed the door and hurried back into the restaurant.
Brown and the woman continued to yell at one another, according to charging documents, and one of her co-workers got the two back inside the car again. As the co-worker approached the driver’s side door, prosecutors said Brown jumped out of the car and pushed him twice. At this point, the woman exited the vehicle, and Brown shoved her back.
When another co-worker came out of the restaurant, Brown tried to hit him in the face, at which point the woman pushed Brown back. Charging documents show that after that, Brown smacked her in the face, leading her co-workers to go after him.
Brown pulled a handgun from his sweatshirt pocket and pistol-whipped one of the co-workers in the mouth, which caused the weapon to fly from his hand and hit the ground, according to the statement of charges. The men began to struggle for the gun, as one of the co-workers threw punches at the back of Brown’s head.
Then, Brown shot the co-worker who was hitting him in the head.
One of the woman’s co-workers suggested that Brown had a romantic “thing” with her and didn’t like that she was spending time with male co-workers.
The woman, however, told police that she did not know Brown and didn’t see anything that had taken place at Clyde’s. Cellphone records later showed that the woman had been in contact with the man numerous times, including five consecutive times after the man was shot.
“This was a violent act at a popular establishment that placed people in danger, including innocent bystanders,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy, according to the news release.
Brown faces up to 55 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 20.
