The trial for a Newhall man who allegedly led Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies on a manhunt in February last year began last week, according to an official with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Opening statements were made at the San Fernando Courthouse Friday in the case against Jesse Tucker, 30, of Newhall, with Deputy District Attorney Ryan Tracy prosecuting the case, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office.

Tucker is facing seven counts in connection with two separate incidents that occurred in January and February of 2015, including: assault on a peace officer; resisting an executive officer; two counts of driving or taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent with a prior; assault with a deadly weapon using a vehicle; fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s vehicle while driving recklessly; and misdemeanor vandalism.

A total of seven witnesses have been called so far, with more witnesses expected to take the stand on Tuesday, Tracy said.

The first alleged incident occurred in January 2015, when a custodian at an undisclosed Santa Clarita school reported his black Chevy Impala vehicle missing from the school’s parking lot where he left it.

On Jan. 27, 2015, employees of William S. Hart Park in Newhall witnessed a vehicle matching that description being driven in an unauthorized area of the park, according to Tracy.

Deputies dispatched to the scene reportedly saw the Impala — allegedly driven by Tucker — “speeding through” the southern end of the park before approaching the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society building at the edge of the property.

Tucker allegedly sped through the building’s rose garden area where several employees stood and drove through a chain link fence, evading the deputies in pursuit, Tracy said.

Related: Newhall Standoff Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To 8 Felony Counts

Deputies continued their search for Tucker on the morning of Feb. 2, 2015 after he allegedly stole a white F-150 truck from gardeners performing landscape work at an In-N-Out Burger on the 25200 block of The Old Road in Stevenson Ranch.

Witnesses reported Tucker was trying to sell the stolen gardening equipment in Newhall when deputies located him using the truck’s GPS system, according to Tracy.

Deputies were dispatched to a residential area in Santa Clarita, and parked their patrol vehicle on an access road where they believed the stolen vehicle to be.

The deputies then reportedly saw Tucker approach in the stolen truck, reverse back down the access road and “come back up again, driving directly at the deputy (who) was outside the vehicle,” Tracy said.

The deputy fired a round at the truck, missing the suspect, before the vehicle struck a retaining wall.

Tucker then fled on foot, prompting a temporary lockdown of the nearby Our Lady of Perpetual Help and McGrath Elementary schools.

K-9 and helicopter units were dispatched to the area to aid in the search, which ended in Tucker’s arrest that night after an hours-long standoff on the 25200 block of Vermont Drive in Newhall.

Tucker plead not guilty to the charges against him two days after his arrest.

Tucker has previously been convicted of vandalism, narcotics possession, illegal possession of drug paraphernalia, grand theft auto, felony theft, driving without a license and evading arrest, according to court records.

If convicted of all charges, he faces a possible maximum sentence of more than 14 years in state prison.