Who is Chad Brown? Horse trainer charged with criminal obstruction of breathing

On Wednesday, August 17, famous thoroughbred horse trainer Chad Brown was arrested after he allegedly choked and pushed a woman down some stairs at his home. As per the accusations, Brown also pinned the woman to the floor of his Saratoga Springs residence by Brown.

At the time, he was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing and spent a night in jail before he was presented in the courtroom. As per reports, Brown was released after he paid the cash bail of $2,500 on Thursday. In addition, he would also have to pay the bail of $5,000 in bond.

It has been reported that Brown has pleaded not guilty to the charges. It remains to be seen whether the woman will sue Chad C. Brown.

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What is known about Chad Brown?

Chad Brown is a well-known name in the world of horse racing and has trained ten Eclipse Award-winning horses. As a horse trainer, he also won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer consecutively in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The horse trainer has over 1800 wins.

The Mechanicville, New York native has surpassed over $228 million in earnings through horse racing in his North American career. Last year, Brown had his 2,000th win through his horses.

Furthermore, it has been reported that Brown received a degree in animal husbandry from Cornell University in 2001. It was during his college days that he got into horse racing. Following that, he worked for multiple horse racing Hall of Fame trainers.

Previously, Chad Brown had another run-in with the law. In 2019, Brown was ordered to pay $1.6 million in compensation after he was found to have not paid overtime charges to his staff back then.

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What did Chad Brown’s attorney say?

Following accusations of pushing a woman down the stairs and choking her, Brown was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing. This is considered a class A misdemeanor in the state of New York.

Additionally, the accused can also face a fine of $1000 and a year in jail as a maximum punishment. The individual might be commuted to a probation term of 3 years without any jail time.

In the courtroom, Chad Brown’s attorney Joseph Gerstenzang argued that the horse trainer only attacked the woman in self-defense. He alleged that the woman had broken into his Doten Avenue home while Brown was asleep.

Gerstenzang said:

“The wrong person was arrested here. It was a home invasion. She entered my client's home. (She) in fact was the perpetrator. She came in the middle of the night, woke him up physically and attacked him. While defending his girlfriend and himself, these allegations allegedly occurred."

According to news anchor Subrina Dhammi of WNYT-TV (affiliated with NBC), the judge presiding over this hearing, Francine Vero, refused to believe it and said:

“This court is not in the business of accusing domestic-violence victims."

Moments later, she corrected herself and addressed the woman as an “alleged victim,” after being prompted by Chad Brown’s attorney.

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What might have caused the alleged altercation according to the arrest document?

As per the documents of the arrest, the woman claimed to have been involved in an on-again-off-again relationship with Chad Brown. The woman, who is reportedly also a horse trainer, claimed that she went to the 43-year-old's residence as she was unable to reach him multiple times.

After entering the residence with a spare key that was in her possession, she found Chad Brown with another woman. This seems to have escalated things for the horse trainer. The unidentified woman claimed that Brown pushed her down the stairs and attempted to strangle her before pushing her out of the door.

At the time of his release, following the $2500 payment of the cash bail, Judge Vero instructed him to hand over any firearm license if he had any. She also issued a stay-away order for Brown and the woman if they happen to meet at the Saratoga Race Course.

According to Horse Racing Nation, Chad Brown is due in court again on September 2.