A city man is jailed on a pair of felony charges after his girlfriend allegedly told Butler police that he tried to drown her in the shower and choked her to near unconsciousness.

He is also accused of attacking her with a toilet seat during the alleged domestic dispute Wednesday morning at the couple's home on Lincoln Avenue.

Marco A. Cantera, 20, was arrested and arraigned on felony charges of aggravated assault and strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of simple assault. He is in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail.

Police said they were called around 10:15 a.m. for a reported disturbance at the home. The alleged victim had fled to her mother's house by the time officers arrived.

Cantera claimed that his girlfriend was the aggressor and that she tried to scratch him with her fingernails.

Police spoke to the 19-year-old woman at her mother's house and they noticed she had bruising and scratches on her neck, according to charging documents.

She recounted that the defendant had slapped her around, grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground, police said. While on the ground, he allegedly kicked her in the ribs with his shoes on.

At some point, she said, she ran into the bathroom, but was unable to get away from Cantera. He again threw her to the floor, documents said, and continued to hit and kick her.

“Cantera got on top of her,” according to Patrolman Michael Sulerud's affidavit, “and choked her, with his hands around her neck, hitting her head off the floor.”

She told police that she almost passed out before he stopped choking her. He turned on the shower and allegedly tried to throw her into it.

“(The victim) believed he was trying to drown her,” the affidavit said.

Cantera is accused of choking her again before he “ripped the toilet seat off the toilet,” charging documents said, “and hit her with it.”

Cantera's preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 8.