Police: Two men assaulted each other with fishing equipment

RISING SUN — Two men are facing criminal charges after a fight in which fishing equipment was used as weapons — including a gaff hook that one of the combatants allegedly used to stab the other in the leg, sending him to the hospital in an ambulance, according to the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday at a residence in the 200 block of Smith Road. near Rising Sun, police said. CCSO deputies rushed to that address after someone called 911 from that location and then hung up the phone, police added.

Investigators learned that two tenants — William Winford Abbott, 59, and Mark Alvin Vincent, 58, both of whom reside at 241 Smith Road — had gotten into a property dispute, police reported.

Abbott allegedly struck Vincent’s back and side with a fishing pole, according to Lt. Michael Zack, a CCSO spokesman. Then Vincent allegedly hit Abbott in his right leg with a fishing gaff hook, puncturing Abbott’s leg, Zack reported.

An ambulance crew drove Abbott to Christiana Hospital in Delaware, where he was treated for his non-life-threatening puncture wound to his leg, police said.

Arrested at the scene, Vincent is charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, court records show. First-degree assault is a felony that is punishable by up to 25 years in prison if convicted while second-degree assault and reckless endangerment are misdemeanors that carry maximum sentences of 10 years and five years respectively.

Vincent remained in the Cecil County Detention Center in lieu of $5,000 bond on Thursday, one day after a bail review hearing in which his no-bond status was reduced to that sum, according to court records, which indicate that Cecil County District Court Administrative Judge Bonnie G. Schneider presided over that proceeding.

Abbott, meanwhile, is charged with second-degree assault and reckless endangerment for his alleged role in the incident, court records show. Abbott was not arrested but, rather, was served a criminal summons, court records indicate.