ELKTON — A man who intentionally struck a man with his vehicle in the parking lot of a travel plaza near Elkton in April amid a dispute began serving a six-month home detention term on Tuesday, one day after accepting a plea deal in his criminal case, according to Cecil County Circuit Court records.
The defendant — Brett Eugene Miele, 33, of Perryville — pleaded guilty to first-degree assault on Monday during a courtroom hearing and, in turn, Cecil County Circuit Court Judge William W. Davis Jr. imposed a 15-year sentence on him, suspending all but six months of the penalty and placing Miele on home detention set to commence the next day, court records show.
In addition, Davis ordered Miele to serve five years of supervised probation after completing his six months of home detention, according to court records.
As probation conditions listed by the judge, Miele must pay $27,267 in restitution to the owner of an Elkton commercial building that Miele struck and damaged with his vehicle during the incident; perform 50 hours of community work service; do not enter the workplace of residence of the victim; and submit to drug treatment and counseling, court records show.
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss three related charges against Miele, as part of the plea agreement reached by Assistant State’s Attorney Nicole Olivia Kelly and Miele’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Jetta Janae Alberts, according to court records.
The incident leading to Miele’s conviction and sentence occurred on April 13 at the TA Travel Center in the 1400 block of Elkton Road (Route 279), police said. Miele readily told Maryland State Police troopers that he struck the victim with his vehicle — and that he did so because he believed that the victim was retrieving a gun — after they had arrived at the travel center in response to a reported assault, police added.
MSP Tfc. Rafer, the arresting officer, indicated in the original charging document that Miele told police, “Take me now, I hit em, I did . . . He opened the door and I panicked.”
Rafer also spoke with the victim, a 23-year-old man who was “highly irate” while telling the trooper how Miele deliberately struck him with a Honda Civic, pinning him within a Jeep and then striking the exterior wall of the TA Travel Plaza building, court records show.
“(The victim) had a large, red abrasion on his right shin and a large laceration on his left thigh. The Jeep’s door had been bent forward and a large hole could be seen in the front wall of the TA’s building,” according to court records.
During the investigation, police learned that Miele’s 54-year-old mother had gone to the TA Travel Plaza, where the victim was working a shift, because the victim had been driving her Jeep and she wanted to take possession of the vehicle, court records show.
The victim hid in the bathroom, with the assistance of a TA Travel Plaza security guard who was trying to “deescalate the situation,” police said. But Miele’s mother barged into the restroom and started arguing with the victim, who, in turn, “shoved past” the woman and ran to the Jeep to retrieve his belongings, police added.
Because she believed that the victim possibly had a gun inside that vehicle, Miele’s mother yelled to him that the victim had a firearm, police reported.
“Miele, who was operating a Honda Civic, drove at (the victim) as he leaned into the passenger’s side of the Jeep and struck him with the driver’s side of the Honda, pinning him into the Jeep, then continued forward, striking the building, causing extensive damage,” court records show.
Investigators later learned that a 49-year-old man who is the husband of Miele’s mother had “preemptively” removed a bag from the Jeep that the victim had been using, believing that a gun was inside of it, according to court records.
Rafer found a silver BB gun replicating a Glock handgun inside that bag, court records show. The victim never possessed that BB gun during the incident, police reported.
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