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Man Pulled Rifle Over Tangled Fishing Line, Deputies say

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By TODD RUGER, Sarasota Herald Tribune

Published: December 20, 2007

SARASOTA COUNTY - A 76-year-old man pointed a rifle at Myakka River boaters after an argument over tangled fishing line, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies arrested Ronald R. Connolly on a felony aggravated assault charge Tuesday, two months after the incident was reported to authorities.

The 67-year-old boat owner told deputies he and two other people were going north on the Myakka River just after noon Sept. 29 when they got close to Connolly's dock and tangled in his fishing line.

The owner stopped his boat and unhooked the fishing line, but Connolly cast the line onto the boat again and a quarrel started, a Sheriff's Office report states.

Connolly, a retired model maker, then went into his house and got a rifle with a black scope and a bipod, and pointed it at the boaters from the rear balcony of his home, the report states.

Connolly told deputies that the boat owner had threatened him physically so he got his BB gun to scare them away.

When the BB gun did not match the description, Connolly allowed deputies to search his house in the 9300 block of Kingfish Drive.

Deputies reported they did not find a rifle matching the description, but that Connolly's version of the story changed several times and the victims' statements were consistent.

Connolly remained in the Sarasota County jail, waiting to be released Wednesday night.

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