Police: Boaters Lucky Brawl On Choptank River Didn't Turn 'Deadly'

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A fracas between two men on board a boat in the Choptank River over the weekend was caught on video, and it's now under investigation by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police.

It's a story that was first reported by WJZ Monday: A witness, who was working as a volunteer for a sailing regatta on the Choptank River, captured the incident on video and, when the group ignored calls to break it up, volunteers called authorities, who detained the group when they returned to shore.

"That is just a compilation of what not to do on a boat," Maryland Natural Resources Police spokesperson Candy Thompson told WJZ's Marcus Washington.

RELATED: Charges Pending After Boaters Brawl on Md. River

While out on the water in Cambridge on Saturday, two brothers, ages 19 and 21, started pushing and punching each other on a boat they had rented with four other friends. The fight escalated when one of the men, believed to be the man who instigated the brawl, grabbed the boat's antenna, raised it overhead and used it to beat the other man involved.

"Natural Resources Police responded, Coast Guard responded and Cambridge Police responded on shore," Thompson said.

Daryl Newhouse, the witness who recorded the flap, told WJZ in a phone interview that she and other volunteers followed the boat in case the vessel got out of control or someone went overboard and needed help. During the video, which has since gone viral, you can hear someone brushing up against the throttle.

"We wanted to stay close enough in case we needed to throw something, but because the boat was in gear, it could have easily hit us, it could have hit any of the other boats on the water that day," Newhouse recalled.

Said Newhouse, "We were scared -- scared for them, scared for us."

The situation could have very easily taken a deadly turn, Thompson told WJZ. "You could have have a case where one of them fell overboard and got hit by the propeller, or been run over by the boat and sustained a head injury or just flat out drowned," she said.

"I don't see how they avoided injury," said Thompson. "It's only luck."

In 2015 alone, there was a 20-year high in boating fatalities -- with 21 deaths reported. That tally is down this year, with just seven deaths reported compared to the same time last year.

In this case, the man who police said was attacked has refused to pursue charges against his brother. The owner of the boat, which was rented to the group, also decided against legal action. The group paid him $3,000 cash for damages sustained to the vessel during the brawl, Thompson told WJZ.

But the case is far from over. Natural Resources Police and the Coast Guard could file charges for negligent operation, which carry a fine as high as $5,000 -- but just $500 for first-time offenders.