Laurel teen pleads guilty in assault

Man was beaten, stabbed after confronting pair

A Prince George's County teen-ager accused of assaulting a man who confronted him and a friend in North Laurel about an earlier robbery pleaded guilty to an assault charge yesterday.

Howard County Circuit Judge Diane O. Leasure sentenced Dominic Timothy Brown, 18, of Laurel to five years in prison, but suspended all but 152 days - the amount of time he has been in jail since his arrest. He also was placed on three years of supervised probation.

Brown and a friend, Dorsel Nathaniel Knight, were charged in the stabbing and beating June 29 of Jason Martino, 21, who sought them out after his girlfriend's brother was robbed.

Knight pleaded guilty to robbery and assault charges Monday and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8.

Knight stabbed Martino in the back and neck while Brown beat him with a wooden post, according to court testimony. Martino had come to the confrontation armed with a tire iron, according to court testimony, and used it to hit Knight.

Brown's attorney, John Koenig, said Martino "escalated things" by seeking out Knight and Brown after the robbery and that Brown hit Martino after he saw his friend being "attacked" near the intersection of All Saints and North Laurel roads in North Laurel.