An argument between two paving companies in central Georgia last month resulted in a 10-man brawl involving bats, sticks and at least one handgun.
Records released by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to Equipment World detail how six men associated with Macon paving company Houston Asphalt – Mark Buckland Sr., Willy Buckland Sr., James Small, Willy Buckland Jr., Luke Buckland and Mark Buckland Jr. – were charged December 19 in Macon after a verbal altercation that turned physical.
According to the incident report, four employees of EH Paving of Acworth were paving a driveway in Macon when the six men associated with Houston Asphalt arrived with various weapons. The property owner and complainant who had hired EH Paving told police the men had arrived and attacked the crew paving the driveway, who had attempted to retreat up the driveway “until there was nowhere to go.”
Mark Buckland Jr. told responding officers the brawl was due to a “misunderstanding,” but EH Paving’s owner told police the Bucklands were upset about EH Paving working close to the home of Michael Buckland. The Bucklands allegedly found it “disrespectful” that EH Paving was working this particular job.
EH Paving’s owner also told police he’d had problems in the past with the Bucklands showing up on his jobsites and causing problems.
At one point, one EH Paving employee discharged a handgun into the nearby woods in an attempt to break up the fighting. One EH Paving employee claimed Mark Buckland Sr. at one point produced a “long cowboy-style gun” and pointed it at another EH Paving employee, though police were unable to locate that firearm.
Several men were reported to have minor injuries, and one EH Paving employee claimed to have been struck in the head by a metal baseball bat and required attention from emergency medical services.
All six men associated with Houston Asphalt were charged with criminal trespassing, several were charged with simple battery and Mark Buckland Sr. was charged with pointing a pistol at another and tampering with evidence.
Equipment World reached out to EH Paving, and the owner declined to comment. Houston Asphalt could not be reached.
