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It will be a night to forget for David Lee Brown III, 30, who was sentenced to 55 years in prison with all but 35 years to serve after being convicted of multiple counts of assault and other offenses for his role in the shooting of Mame Faye during a dispute outside Clyde's Restaurant in Chevy Chase, officials in Montgomery County announced.
Faye and several of his co-workers - including Sala Coleman - from Maggiano Little Italy in DC were out at Clyde's around 12:08 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2022, when Coleman got into a verbal argument with Brown outside the restaurant.
When the argument got physical, Coleman's coworkers came outside and things were temporarily defused before rapidly ramping back up, with Coleman and Brown getting ready to leave and everyone back in the restaurant.
However, according to the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office, "(Brown) abruptly exited his vehicle, slammed the car door, and hurried his way back inside the restaurant for unknown reasons."
Brown would go on to fetch something - later determined to be a handgun - from his vehicle, which he hid until pistol-whipping one of the coworkers, sending the gun flying from his hand.
There was a struggle for the weapon, prosecutors say, with Faye and at least one other coworker attempting to wrestle the gun away, until the struggle ended abruptly at around 12:20 a.m. when Faye fell to the ground motionless and Brown returned to his car.
His coworkers provided as much first aid as they could until police arrived to treat Faye before paramedics arrived to take him to an area hospital.
Coleman had a brief conversation with Brown before he fled down Wisconsin Avenue, where reportedly said "don't tell on me Sala."
Another coworker implied that Brown may have a "thing" with Coleman because he didn't seem happy with how she was hanging out with her male coworkers, possibly prompting the initial argument.
Brown was ultimately identified as a suspect and he was arrested and ultimately convicted of attempted manslaughter, first-degree assault, and use of a handgun.
In addition to his prison term, Brown was also ordered to serve five years of supervised probation upon his release.
“This was a violent act at popular establishment that placed people in danger, including innocent bystanders," State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a statement after Brown was convicted. "We thank Montgomery County Police for their work leading to the arrest and commend Assistant State’s Attorneys Mary Herdman and John Lalos for handling the prosecution of (Brown)."
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