A Stratham, N.H., man on probation for assault has been charged with stabbing two U.S. Navy sailors in a Portsmouth parking lot.

Twenty-three-year-old Robert Marcotte was being held on $25,000 bail after his arraignment Tuesday on four counts of first-degree assault.

Police say the stabbings happened early Saturday morning during a fight. Authorities say both victims were stabbed multiple times and were treated at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. The injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.

WMUR-TV reports that Marcotte said he was acting in self-defense after he was jumped and beaten. But prosecutors say his statements do not match those of witnesses and that Marcotte was the agressor, stabbing the sailors in the back with a pocketknife.