KITTERY (AP) – A Georgia man has been found not guilty of charges that he allegedly stabbed a co-worker at a local truck stop in July.

Omowale Nubian Black, 39, of Atlanta, was acquitted of elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault following a three-day jury trial in York County Superior Court in Alfred. The verdict came after nearly a full day of deliberations Friday.

Black was arrested at Howell’s Truck Stop on Route 1 after allegedly stabbing the 24-year-old victim at 2:30 p.m. on July 7.

Police said Black, the victim and another man who had been working for Van Buren Movers out of Georgia were traveling through Kittery at the time. Black and one of the other movers began squabbling over working conditions and performance before Black allegedly stabbed him in the abdomen and in the biceps, police said.

During the trial, Black’s defense lawyers argued their client had acted in self-defense.

The verdict left local police who investigated the case “at a loss,” said Kittery Sgt. Ron Avery.

Man sentenced for gas pump crash

KITTERY (AP) – A New Hampshire man has been sentenced to 35 days in jail in connection with a crash into a Kittery gas pump that resulted in a fiery explosion.

In a plea agreement, John Harrington pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless conduct, driving to endanger, and leaving the scene of a property-damage accident, according to his attorney, Thomas Van Houten.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of operating under the influence.

Harrington was charged in March 2004 after witnesses followed him to his home in Portsmouth. A surveillance tape from the gas station showed Harrington’s pickup truck hitting and igniting the gas pump.

Harrington was convicted of driving while intoxicated in New Hampshire, but a judge overturned the conviction, ruling police violated Harrington’s rights when they arrested him.