Man draws 10-20 years for attack of woman
NORRISTOWN » His “brutal assault” of a sleeping Lower Pottsgrove woman during a drug-fueled burglary of her home has landed a Royersford man behind state prison bars.
Brandon Robert Fisher, 30, of the 100 block of Adams Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 10 to 20 years in state prison in connection with the 6 p.m. Sept. 7, 2016, incident at a home along Sanatoga Station Road in Lower Pottsgrove.
The sentence was imposed by Judge Todd D. Eisenberg before whom Fisher pleaded guilty to felony charges of burglary and robbery. With the robbery charge, Fisher, who was represented by defense lawyer John Kravitz, admitted that while committing a
theft he inflicted serious bodily injury on the victim.
The 23-year-old woman suffered neck and facial injuries, including a fractured nose and chipped tooth, and significant bruising after Fisher used his fists to beat her and also strangle her during the burglary.
“What happened to her that night is everybody’s worst nightmare. The way she described it, it had started off as a regular day and her entire world was turned completely upside down when he walked into her house and brutally assaulted her,” said county Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood, who sought a lengthy prison term against Fisher.
Prosecutors alleged the crime was fueled by Fisher’s drug addiction. Fisher stole the woman’s personal belongings from her Mahr Mill Apartments residence to support his drug habit, “to find money to get drugs,” Ringwood alleged.
“This was a very heinous, brutal assault in the sanctity and security of the victim’s home where she was lying on her couch sleeping when he walked in,” Ringwood said. “This defendant committed a very brutal attack that day on a complete stranger.
“On that day, he demonstrated the level of violence that he’s capable of in order to get his next fix, in order to get high. He is a complete danger to society,” Ringwood added.
The victim reported waking
up on her couch in her living room to find a man, later determined to be Fisher, standing over her with a hammer, according to the criminal complaint. The woman told police that the intruder demanded money and then struck her in the face multiple times before fleeing the residence in a black Kia Soul vehicle.
Authorities initially believed Fisher struck the woman with the hammer but prosecutors on Wednesday contended Fisher violently struck the woman with his fists. Prosecutors explained there was not sufficient evidence to prove Fisher used the hammer during the assault.
Regardless of the means Fisher used to beat the woman, prosecutors said the victim’s face was so swollen “that she was almost unrecognizable.”
At 6:15 p.m., Limerick police spotted Fisher in the Kia Soul and observed him attempting to discard items in a Dumpster located on Lightcap Road. Fisher, who was taken into custody at that time, had blood on his hands and body and several small cuts on his neck, injuries that appeared consistent with being caused by fingernails, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Pottsgrove Detective Daniel Kienle.
In the Dumpster, police found several zippered makeup pouches and a cellphone, items that had been stolen from the victim’s residence.
A search of the Kia revealed more make-up bags, a battery and SIM card that appeared to match the cellphone discarded in the Dumpster, along with “two syringes located in the cup holder in the center console of the vehicle,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Court documents indicate footage of a security camera at the apartments showed Fisher arriving in the Soul and exiting the vehicle at around the time of the burglary and assault.
Ringwood said in addition to suffering the physical effects of the beating, the victim also suffered emotional injuries.
“She talked about how she doesn’t feel safe in her home and talks about having nightmares and panic attacks,” said Ringwood, referring to the victim impact letter the woman wrote to the judge. “Even a year later, she still suffers from the emotional injuries that he caused to her and will continue to suffer for a very long time.”
Earlier that day, at about 4:40 p.m., a relative of Fisher’s called Royersford police to report Fisher had taken cash and the Kia Soul without permission and was driving to Pottstown to buy narcotics, according to the criminal complaint.