Pickup Hits, Drags Man As Fight Escalates

Just before a 19-year-old pulled into a Charles County parking lot last weekend for an arranged fight with two longtime enemies, he made an unusual call for help: to his mother and her boyfriend.

But after the mother and boyfriend arrived, police said, the fight escalated beyond schoolyard fisticuffs. The teen was stabbed in the arm, and the 44-year-old boyfriend was struck by a pickup and dragged 120 feet.

The boyfriend remained in critical condition yesterday. Authorities were searching for the 19-year-old's enemies, who police said fled in the truck toward Prince George's County.

Maj. Joe Montminy of the Charles County Sheriff's Office said police have not made any arrests in the case. He declined to give the names of the victims or the suspects because police are still investigating.

Police said the teen and the two men, all residents of Brandywine, agreed early Saturday to fight in the parking lot of Jimmie's Convenience Center in Hughesville. The three had an ongoing feud dating to their days at Gwynn Park High School in Prince George's, Montminy said.

"It's one of those that's probably so old that they probably don't know what it's all about," he said. "They essentially agreed to meet there to fight."

But before the two men arrived, Montminy said, the 19-year-old called his 37-year-old mother and her boyfriend.

In the parking lot, Montminy said, the two men stabbed the 19-year-old and sped off in the truck. They turned around after the teen threw a rock and shattered the truck's rear window. Montminy said the truck hit the 44-year-old and dragged him through the parking lot.

Montminy said he did not know whether the pair struck the man intentionally. He said police have seized the truck and are running blood and fingerprint tests.

The man was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he remained yesterday afternoon, Montminy said. The teen was treated at the Southern Maryland Hospital Center and released, he said.