Standing outside her Linthicum house last July with her roommate's 12-year-old son, Debra Ferrick feared the worst.

Her ex-boyfriend - whom she had received a protective order against that morning - was driving a pickup truck in the area.

"He's right across the street right now. I'm looking at him. He's pulling into my driveway. Please send someone," she told a county 911 dispatcher July 28, according to a police recording.

The line then erupted into screams as Ronald Brandt Jr., 51, of Linthicum Heights, smashed through a picket fence and rammed into her and the boy, who almost lost his right foot as a result of the...