Groton — A New Hampshire man is facing numerous criminal charges after police say he attacked a state trooper with a tree branch on Sunday.

Police said Stephen Prescott, 53, of Manchester, N.H., was stopped and escorted off Interstate 95 in Groton on two different occasions Sunday.

On his third interaction with police, at about 8:12 p.m., Prescott attempted to strike the responding trooper in the head with a 3-foot tree branch, state police said. A struggle ensured and when Prescott was brought to the ground he used his fingers and fingernails to gouge at the trooper’s eyes, police said.

Prescott was subdued with pepper spray and taken into custody. Prescott was charged with interfering with a police officer, assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault, second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Police said the trooper involved in the arrest, 45-year-old Jason McCarthy, suffered minor injuries.  

Prescott was held in lieu of a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at a later date in New London Superior Court.