A Northern California driver who allegedly hit a pedestrian on purpose and then fled the scene was found three hours later, beaten and tied to a phone pole at the crash site.

He was arrested on charges including attempted murder, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said.

The initial incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. on Friday in Rancho Calaveras, a community 25 miles northeast of Stockton.

Deputies arriving to investigate a report that a pedestrian had been hit were told that a man identified as Thomas Bechtold had gotten in an argument with James Leslie. Bechtold reportedly struck Leslie with his car, knocking the man unconscious, and then fled.

At 7:30 p.m., deputies had not located Bechtold. They then got a report that he was back at the intersection where the assault had occurred, in a semi-rural neighborhood in the Gold Country foothills.

They found him bruised and scraped, with his hands tied behind his back, and tethered to a telephone pole.