A man who attacked and choked a woman after she gave him a ride to Whidbey Island is likely headed to prison.

Larry Byars, 22, pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court last Friday to two counts of residential burglary, according to Deputy Prosecutor David Carman.

Byars is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 24. Carman is recommending a top-of-the-range sentence of two years and five months imprisonment.

Byars’ mailing address is listed in Baton Rouge, La.

He has a “significant criminal history” in several states, including a sexual assault in Texas, according to the prosecuting attorney.

A 27-year-old Whidbey Island woman agreed to give Byars, an acquaintance, a ride from her workplace in Everett to the Oak Harbor area on Sept. 21, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was driving along West Beach Road when Byars told her to pull into the driveway of a home; he claimed he lived there. Deputies subsequently determined that the house is vacant and for sale.

The woman said Byars suddenly grabbed her and tried to place her into a headlock.

“There was no warning before the attack,” Deputy Robert Davison wrote in his report.

The woman tried to escape from the car, but Byars went around to the other side and dragged her out, putting her into a rear choke hold.

The woman later said she could not breathe and felt herself passing out. She screamed, fought and honked her horn.

At one point, Byars allegedly threatened to “break her neck,” the deputy’s report said.

The commotion alerted a neighbor, who called 911.

Byars eventually calmed down and the woman got back into the car; Byars tried to climb in, but she was able to drive away from the scene without him.

The victim also called 911.

Responding deputies said they observed that the woman was “hysterical” and sustained visible injuries.

Byars ran away from the scene on foot. He later told a reserve deputy that his plan was to steal a car, lead deputies on a chase and “kill everybody,” Davison wrote in his report.

The report indicates that Byars broke into a house by throwing a large rock through a window. He cut himself on the glass.

Investigators said Byars went to another house, where a homeowner saw him trying to open doors and go inside the garage.

Coupeville Marshal Rick Norrie arrived just as the garage door was opening.

Norrie said Byars was standing inside the garage next to a car’s open driver’s-side door; the key was in the ignition and the car was running, the report states. The marshal arrested Byars.