WAILUKU — A man was taken into custody Tuesday to serve a six-month jail term for assaulting a neighbor who suffered permanent injury to his hand after being “brutally attacked” two years ago.

Ian Plimpton, 39, also was ordered to pay $630 in restitution as part of four years’ probation.

“This is a terrible situation between neighbors,” said Plimpton’s attorney, Philip Lowenthal. “Ian is very engaged in his farming. Right across the road is where the Johnsons live. They got into a fight one night. It’s hotly disputed as to who started it.”

On the night of Feb. 19, 2015, Christopher Johnson said he heard a car playing loud music with its lights off near his house in Maluhia Country Ranches in Kahakuloa.

“All I did was walk up there with my flashlight,” Johnson said in court Tuesday.

He said he didn’t recognize the car in the dark and was worried about vandalism.

“I didn’t see anyone until he hit me the first time,” Johnson said. “He was in such a rage, I thought he was going to kill me.”

Johnson said he “was brutally attacked.”

Plimpton was reported to be “highly intoxicated” that night, said special Deputy Attorney General Timothy Tate. 

He said Plimpton had a drinking glass or bottle with him. “And that’s what he used to attack the victim,” Tate said.

He said Johnson’s hand was slashed by glass and severely cut. Johnson ran about 200 yards to the top of his driveway, with Plimpton following, Tate said. “It was just lucky Mr. Johnson was able to outrun him,” Tate said.

He said Johnson’s wife saw “a trail of blood leading down their driveway to the house.”

Tate said Johnson, who is over 60 years old, did nothing to provoke Plimpton.

Before the attack, in an email to the neighborhood association, Johnson had offered to remove some things for Plimpton. He responded, “If you touch my stuff, I’ll touch you,” Tate said.

“They were already becoming concerned for their safety,” Tate said.

He said Plimpton was swearing at Johnson and had “flipped him off several times.” Plimpton also told Johnson, “I’m from Detroit, I’ll talk any way I want,” Tate said.

He said Plimpton similarly swore at police officers when he was arrested for disorderly conduct in 2011. Plimpton received a deferral for another alcohol-related arrest in 1998, Tate said.

“This is not an isolated incident,” Tate said. “He’s been aggressive to law enforcement, and he’s been aggressive toward his neighbors.”

Johnson required surgeries after tendons in his hand were severed and he suffered numbness, Tate said.

“Mr. Johnson has to suffer with this for the rest of his life, and the defendant hasn’t served one day in jail for this,” Tate said, asking the court to sentence Plimpton to the six-month jail term.

Plimpton had pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree assault rather than face “the vagaries of a jury trial” and mandatory prison sentencing if he were convicted of the original charge, Lowenthal said.

He said there was ongoing civil litigation over what happened.

“But for the grace of God, it just as easily might have been Ian that got his head cracked open,” Lowenthal said. “This was a terrible accident.”

Speaking in court Tuesday, Plimpton said he wanted to apologize to the Johnsons.

“I never intended to hurt them,” Plimpton said. “This is an unfortunate circumstance.

“He never identified himself when he came down there. I just did everything I could to defend myself. I began to hear my wife scream.”

Plimpton said his family had moved away for more than a year and a half “just so I could mitigate the tension.”

“I do take full responsibility for this,” Plimpton said. “I want peace between us. I don’t want to continue to live like this.”

Second Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza, who followed a plea agreement in sentencing Plimpton, ordered him not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs.

Plimpton also was ordered to complete anger management treatment and to have no contact with Johnson.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.