A 43-year-old Oak Harbor motorcyclist is accused of assaulting a teenager in an alleged road-range incident and then telling the victim’s mother that he was going to beat up the young man if he didn’t drop the charges, court documents alleged.

Troy Voegeli pleaded not guilty in Island County Superior Court April 16 to tampering with a witness and fourth-degree assault.

Last August, a 19-year-old man reported to police that his girlfriend was driving him and his 13-year-old brother on Highway 20 in the city. The woman slowed in the construction zone in the north end of town because there was a manhole cover in the road, which apparently angered the motorcyclist behind them.

The motorcyclist, later identified as Voegeli, pulled alongside the car and yelled at the teenagers for driving slowly. The older brother stuck his head out the window and told him to stop.

Voegeli then got off his motorcycle at the intersection with NE Seventh Avenue and allegedly attacked the older brother. Voegeli hit the 19-year-old man in the head through the sunroof and tried to pull him up through it, according to Oak Harbor Police Officer Mike Bailey’s report on the incident.

A witness intervened in the fight, causing Voegeli to get on his motorcycle and ride away.

In an interview with the officer, Voegeli allegedly said that the driver of the car had swerved at him twice and “flipped him off.” He said he went to grab the passenger for “running his mouth,” Bailey wrote in his report.

Then in October, Voegeli was at a wedding reception with the alleged victim’s mother. Voegeli warned the woman that her son had better drop the charges or he will beat up the young man, according to the woman’s written statement.

If convicted of the charges, Voegeli could face from one to three months in jail under the standard sentencing range.