BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Burlington man pleaded not guilty Friday to fatally stabbing a man in what the police chief says is fifth homicide this year in Vermont's largest city, the most since 1960.

Von C. Simmonds, 40, was arrested Thursday in the death of Abubakar Sharif, 23, who was stabbed at a Main Street pizza restaurant early Sunday. Sharif was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Simmonds was charged with second-degree murder. He was being held without bail, pending further hearings.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad confirmed to mynbc5 that the stabbing occurred inside the restaurant during what police think was a fight between two groups of people.

“It doesn’t appear to be over something other than just two groups of people running into each other,” Murad said told the news station. “Frankly, this appears to have been bar-closing-beer-muscles and a fight that comes from that kind of behavior and ends up being something that turns into something a lot worse.”

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This story has been corrected to show the the name of the person stabbed is Sharif, not Shariff.