Suspect tried to throw girlfriend off balcony in drunken fight, report says

A 49-year-old man was arrested early Tuesday after attempting to throw his girlfriend off a second-floor balcony during a drunken fight, deputies say.

Brian Copening was arrested just after midnight and booked into theOrange County Jail on an attempted-murder charge as well as battery, false imprisonment and tampering with a witness charges.

According to Copening’s arrest report, he and his girlfriend were spending Monday evening together and drinking wine inside her second-floor apartment.

Deputies withheld the address of apartment, which is customary in dating-violence cases.

When Copening got too drunk, his girlfriend told him to leave, which started the violent argument, the reports said.

Copening blocked the door so the woman couldn’t escape, dragged her to the ground and started to pummel her with punches, the report said.

He also took her keys and cellphone. When the beating stopped, the woman had a cut above her left eye, bruising under her right eye, a swollen lipanda bruised right arm, deputies say.

Whenshewas able to get away, deputies say, the woman ran outside for help. That’s when Copening chased her down, picked her up and tried to toss her over the balcony.

The woman was able to grab on to the guardrail with one hand to stop herself from falling to the ground. When a neighbor helped pull her back to safety, Copening walked away and left the apartment.

Deputies found him a short time later with a stab wound to his shoulder. He told deputies that his girlfriend stabbed him during their fight but investigators never found aweapon.

The woman was treated on scene butwas not hospitalized. Copening, however, was transported to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee for treatment.

Copening remained in jail without bail Tuesday.