Just before the phone line went dead, she gave the 911 operator a name: Ronald Brandt.

Anne Arundel police traced the call about 8 p.m. to a house in the 800 block of Nursery Road in Linthicum where they found a gruesome scene.

Debra Ferrick, 51, was lying in her front yard covered in blood and surrounded by splinters of wood.

A few feet away lay a terrified 11-year-old boy, his foot nearly severed from his body.

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The man said to be responsible, Ronald Brandt Jr., 50, had allegedly smashed his truck through a fence, careened toward his girlfriend’s house and struck Ferrick and her roommate’s son, who were sitting on the front steps.

Officers had to use a Taser to subdue Brandt, who was hiding under a bridge on Nursery Road, police said.

He was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

“I’m still so traumatized. I keep seeing the picture in my head,” Ferrick said Tuesday as tears rolled off her cheeks and onto the blue hospital gown she was still wearing.

“I tried to crawl to [the boy], and I could see his foot was gone.”

A passer-by stopped and held the boy until Anne Arundel emergency personnel arrived, Ferrick said.

The boy was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he underwent surgery to his foot. Ferrick said he will need multiple skin grafts, but can wiggle his toes.

Ferrick was taken to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore City where she received 14 stitches along her foot and was released about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“I’m so lucky to have my life,” she said.

“I feel so bad about the boy. I did my best to prevent this.”

Brandt was enraged because Anne Arundel District Judge Danielle Mosley had finalized a restraining order against him that morning, Ferrick said.

Brandt, who has assault charges and a drug conviction on his record, had called Ferrick repeatedly Monday, threatening to burn down her house, she said.

Ferrick said she called police and asked an officer to retrieve her truck from Brandt, because he was driving past the house with a gas tank in the back and making threats.

“Officer Brown told me to go get the truck myself,” Ferrick said.

Just hours later, Brandt allegedly used the truck to try and kill Ferrick and the boy.

“I’m going to see that an inquiry is completed into the events surrounding this situation,” said Sgt. John Gilmer, a police spokesman.

Brandt is being held at the Anne Arundel detention center without bond.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com