Thursday, 4:30 PM
Fight between boaters leads to attempted murder charge
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
A 53-year-old Danvers man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges today after police accused him of using his 25-foot pontoon boat like a battering ram.
Ronald J. Phillips was ordered held without bail after his arraignment in Salem District Court for a clash Sunday on the Danvers River that included a wrestling match that prosecutors said involved biting. A dangerousness hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday.
"This wasn't just somebody trying to do some damage to a boat," said Lieutenant Conrad Prosniewski of the Salem Police Department. "This was somebody trying to get at someone."
Defense attorney John Morris said today that Phillips and the alleged victim have had a friendship for more than 20 years that has been punctuated by occasional fights. There wasn’t enough evidence to charge Phillips with attempted murder, he said.
"There is more going on here than any of us are ever going to know," Morris said.
Police responded to a ruckus at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday that began with a wrestling match between Phillips and Manny Silva, 45. After the fight, Phillips allegedly drove at 40 miles per hour and rammed Silva's 21-foot speed boat that had been docked at the former Kernwood Marina. After hitting the speed boat once, Phillips "backed up and rammed it again," Prosniewski said.
Phillips fled in his pontoon boat and was pursued by the Beverly Harbormaster. He voluntarily returned to the scene of the alleged confrontation and was arrested.
In court today before her husband's arraignment, Katharine Phillips said that the incident had been "blown way out of proportion." She said that her husband and Silva had been friends for many years and had gotten into scuffles in the past.
"They just lost their tempers," Katharine Phillips said.
