A man who was previously convicted of assaulting police was arrested Saturday after authorities said he assaulted an ATV-riding couple in the Kennebec County town of China, leaving a victim unconscious.

A couple was traveling alongside Bog Road on an all-terrain vehicle when a Toyota pickup suddenly drove at them and stopped, according to a news release Monday from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

Brent Elisens, who lives nearby on Bog Road, allegedly got out of the vehicle and ran up to the couple, yelling obscenities at them.

Elisens allegedly punched the man, knocking him unconscious, off the ATV and into a ditch. The man’s head also struck the female passenger on the back during the attack, police said. Elisens then allegedly kicked the man in the ditch repeatedly until the woman reached for a knife on her belt.

Elisens was charged with two counts of assault, disorderly conduct and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

According to the release, Elisens has had several other interactions involving ATV riders on Bog Road.

“(Elisens) has trouble interacting with other residents and often has unpleasant interactions with people that live in the area of Bog Road or drive on the Bog Road,” Chief Deputy Chris Read of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office said in the release. “The Sheriff’s Office has spoken with (Elisens) several times over the years and tried offering him services to assist him with no success.”

Elisens was ordered to receive mental health treatment as part of a plea deal after assaulting three police officers in 2021, including biting and kicking them and driving a short distance with an officer hanging onto his car window. After pleading guilty in 2024, Elisens was sentenced to seven years in prison with all suspended except the 54 days he had served under the agreement that he would undergo treatment.

As part of the plea agreement, the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office also agreed not to prosecute three other potential cases, two of them being alleged assault cases.

Read did not immediately respond Monday to a request for information about the victim’s condition and whether he was hospitalized.

Elisens’s probation officer was contacted by police, indicating a probation hold would be placed on him, Read said. No bail has been set.