Charges were added and held for higher court Monday at two preliminary hearings connected to a stabbing at the Eau Claire Street Cafe in Butler last year.

Butler City police charged Chris Boltz, 40, of Butler, with two counts of felony aggravated assault after police allege he stabbed Jonathon Fusaro Podobensky, 31, of Butler, during an altercation Nov. 5.

Podobensky was charged with simple assault in the incident.

Boltz received an additional misdemeanor simple assault charge following proceedings before District Judge William Fullerton.

Robert Zanella, assistant district attorney, called witnesses Amber Burkhammer and Christina Messer to the stand. Both testified that they noticed a street fight shortly after arriving at the bar that night. It escalated when Podobensky got on top of Boltz and was repeatedly punching him.

Burkhammer said Messer immediately tried to break up the fight.

“They were fighting for a while, then it died off for a little bit,” she said. “(Messer) went in and broke it up, I don’t know how it started up again.”

When the fight first broke up, Messer said Boltz went to his motorcycle, then walked back to Podobensky.

“It looked like (Boltz) just punched (Podobensky). Then I saw (Podobensky) was bleeding,” she said. “(Podobensky) was standing still in the middle of the road when (Boltz) came over.”

Messer said she never saw the weapon, but tried to help Podobensky when she saw he was bleeding.

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through,” she said.

City police officer David Villotti said he responded to the Eau Claire Street Cafe for a fight, but was then informed that someone had been stabbed.

When he arrived on scene, Villotti found Podobensky on the ground and Boltz attempting to enter the bar and being stopped by security.

“I ordered him to the ground. ... It took a couple tries because he kept saying ‘I’m the bad guy here?’” he said. “While I was taking him into custody I found blood on a knife in the left front pocket of his jeans.”

Villotti added that Boltz initially told police he was jumped by three men, but never confirmed how the fight began.

Fullerton held the charges in both cases over to the Court of Common Pleas.