BELLINGHAM - A Bellingham man who swung a hatchet at his neighbor will serve two months in jail.

Daniel Allan Beckley Rydberg, 27, and his roommate were fighting in their downstairs apartment at 1 p.m. May 12. It sounded like Rydberg was hitting her and she was "hysterically crying," according to charging papers.

The stomping and screaming was loud enough to wake a napping upstairs neighbor. He asked what was going on. Rydberg told him to shut up and mind his own business, prosecutors wrote. The neighbor went downstairs to see if the woman was OK. Rydberg got mad when he saw the neighbor talking with the woman.

Rydberg charged at the neighbor with the raised hatchet, with a 31/2 inch blade, above his head. He took a swing, but the neighbor managed to pry away the weapon, then got Rydberg on the ground and held him there until he promised to stop fighting.

When police arrived, the woman said Rydberg started the fight by "acting like a jerk," according to prosecutors. She confirmed Rydberg had attacked the neighbor with a hatchet.

In June, Rydberg's attorney gave written notice she planned to argue self-defense. But Rydberg pleaded guilty last week, in a deal with prosecutors, to assault in the third degree, a felony.

He was sentenced to 60 days in Whatcom County Jail. Rydberg is also not allowed to be near the neighbor until July 5, 2017.