A jury convicted a Newhall man of assaulting a deputy while fleeing law enforcement in a stolen truck, and he was sentenced to eight years and eight months in state prison Wednesday.

Jesse Alan Tucker, 31, was found guilty last month of one felony count each of assault upon a peace officer and resisting executive officer and two felony counts of driving or taking a vehicle without consent after a prior conviction.

Tucker also was convicted of one misdemeanor count of vandalism under $400 damage, according to the case’s prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Tracy.

On Feb. 2, 2015, Tucker stole a Ford F-150 truck and when police pursued him, he hit a deputy’s patrol car with the stolen truck and then backed up and aimed it at the deputy, according to the evidence presented at the trial.  

Tucker had succeeded in evading two sheriff’s deputies days earlier, on Jan. 28, 2015. In that incident, the defendant drove recklessly through William S. Hart Park and damaged park property, the prosecutor said.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Clarita Station.