West Gardiner Man Gets 20 Months Behind Bars For Driving Suv Into 2 People

AUGUSTA — A West Gardiner man accused of deliberately running his SUV into two people last April pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felony-level charges of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. Dakota L. Brann, 21, who also has an address in Augusta, was indicted in July on two counts of elevated aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault, which say he caused serious injuries to two people with his vehicle, and one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury. On Wednesday at the Capital Judicial Center, those charges were dismissed and the reckless conduct charges were added. There was no explanation offered in court about why the altercation occurred, and District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said afterward there was no clear information as to why it happened but it might have involved a former girlfriend. “The defendant claimed it was an accident,” Maloney said.