This morning Victor Gabriel Brown Jr., 25, of Port Charlotte, was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 8 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation for False Imprisonment. This is normally a third-degree felony but was enhanced to a second-degree felony based on the defendant wearing a mask while committing the offense. The defendant was also sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender.
On November 7, 2019, the defendant grabbed a woman who was jogging around Ollie’s Pond in Port Charlotte and carried her into the woods. The victim started to pray out loud and the defendant dropped her and told her to go home. The defendant was wearing a mask so the victim could not get a good description of him.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to investigate. The victim’s shirt was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for DNA testing. The defendant’s DNA was found on the shirt, near the victim’s waist, where the defendant had grabbed her.
There was a match in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, which stores DNA profiles, identifying the defendant. A warrant was issued and Brown was arrested for the crime.
Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Garczewski, Charlotte County Felony Chief, and Assistant State Attorney Alexa Lipham, prosecuted the case.
Samantha Syoen – Communications Director, State Attorney’s Office