SAXONBURG — A borough man was arrested on charges he strangled his girlfriend during a domestic dispute early Saturday morning at his home on the 200 block of Carol Drive.

Dennis W. Heatherman Jr., 41, was arraigned on a second degree felony charge of strangulation and a summary charge of harassment.

He was placed in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 bail following arraignment.

State police said they were called shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday for a reported domestic disturbance in progress.

The alleged victim told troopers that Heatherman grabbed her by the throat and choked her to the point, documents said, that she was “unable to breathe for a brief period of time.”

Under the relatively new state law targeting domestic violence, prosecutors only need to prove that a defendant choked someone with the intention of impeding his or her breathing, to be charged with felony strangulation.

Before the law's passage in October 2016, someone accused of strangling another person would have been charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor.

Heatherman's girlfriend also recounted that the defendant slapped her head and pulled her hair “multiple times,” during the weekend altercation. She apparently suffered minor injuries.

Heatherman faces a possible prison term of 10 years and a $25,000 fine.