An El Dorado County man was sentenced Jan. 24 to 27 months in prison for assaulting a federal park ranger.

Nicholas Martin Coberley, 45, of Pollock Pines, on June 20, 2016, attacked a Lassen Volcanic National Park ranger who had been called out to investigate reports of a man walking and yelling in the middle of the road at 9 that night.

According to court records, when the ranger approached, Coberley jumped into the back of the ranger’s truck, grabbed a firefighting tool, and began hitting the truck’s passenger compartment with the tool, causing more than $2,000 in damage to the roof and windshield. Coberley then smashed out the rear window with an axe, climbed into the passenger compartment, and put the ranger in a chokehold.

Then Coberley swung an axe at the ranger’s head from behind while the truck was in motion.

Once out of prison Coberley faces three years of supervised release.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report