A family dispute in southwest Ocala took a violent turn Thursday when deputies say a man armed himself with a handgun, a baseball bat, and even a machete during a heated confrontation with his brother.
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a home on SW 170th Loop around 3 p.m. on November 13 after a neighbor reported a commotion in the driveway. When they arrived, they found a shaken man who told them he had been attacked by his brother, 34-year-old Steven Bryant Brindis.
The victim said Brindis had picked him up from Kissimmee two days earlier, but the two quickly clashed. On Thursday, after repeatedly asking to be taken back home, the argument boiled over. Deputies say Brindis locked his brother out of the house, then opened the door holding a black Sig Sauer handgun and ordered him to leave.
The victim told deputies he feared for his life. He said Brindis later put the firearm down, grabbed a baseball bat, and chased him into the driveway, knocking him down and striking him several times in the back. The blows were softened because the victim was wearing a thick back brace from a previous injury.
When the victim got back to his feet, Brindis allegedly picked up a machete hanging near the door and threw it at him, narrowly missing.
An eyewitness living across the street told deputies she heard the commotion and saw Brindis swinging a blunt object “with a great amount of force” while the victim cried out in pain.
Brindis denied everything, telling deputies “nothing got physical” and claiming his neighbors “don’t like him.” When told an independent witness corroborated the victim’s account, deputies say he insisted the witness was lying.
Brindis, a convicted felon with multiple prior felony cases — including a recent conviction earlier this year — was arrested at the scene. He faces felony charges of aggravated domestic battery, aggravated domestic assault, possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon, and use or display of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
He was booked with no bond.
