A 63-year-old Freeland man is accused of choking a woman and threatening “to chop her into little pieces” with a hatchet, according to a report by a deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

William Corbley pleaded not guilty in Island County Superior Court June 1 to a single charge of second-degree assault.

Island County Deputy Shawn Warwick investigated the alleged assault on the night of May 16. Warwick met the victim, a 55-year-old woman, at the Freeland Texaco and noted that she had blood on her ear, neck, shirt and lips.

The woman said she lived in a travel trailer on Corbley’s property and was in the process of moving out. She claimed she got into a verbal argument with Corbley and he attacked her as she was walking away, the report states.

The woman said Corbley knocked her down, punched her on the side of the head and choked her until she couldn’t breathe, Warwick’s report indicates. She claimed Corbley then held a hatchet about his head and threatened to chop her into pieces, the report states.

Warwick went to Corbley’s house, but he was gone. His brother said he had gone fishing after “a situation” with the woman, the report states. The man claimed that the woman had cursed at and assaulted the brothers in the past, court documents indicate.

Corbley’s attorney did not return a call for comment. If convicted of the charge, Corbley could face from three to nine months in jail under the standard sentencing range.