Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday, Nov. 6, for a Karns City man charged with assaulting a woman in a wooded area in Fairview Township in March 2023.

Joseph R. Parker, 36, is facing felony charges that include strangulation, 17 counts of prohibited possession of a firearm, two counts of unlawful body armor and two counts of aggravated assault, and misdemeanor charges including cruelty to animals, reckless endangerment, possession of an offensive weapon, terroristic threats and three counts of simple assault.

At a special status conference Wednesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court, jury selection was scheduled to begin Thursday and the trial was set for next week. The day the trial will start also is expected to be determined on Thursday. Parker is representing himself and attorney Joel Hill was appointed to serve as stand by counsel.

State police filed the charges against Parker following a March 10 incident in which he is accused of hitting a woman with the butt of a gun and pointing a gun at her.

The woman told police that she spent the day with Parker in a camper on the property. According to an affidavit, Parker dragged the woman inside the camper and began hitting her with the butt of a rifle, causing injury to the area below her right eye.

Parker also grabbed the woman’s tongue and “attempted to pull it out,” documents showed. Police said he then pointed a pistol at the woman and threatened to kill her.

Police said Parker also threatened to shoot the woman’s dog and twisted its ear.

Police said a search was conducted of Parker’s camper on March 11. They discovered nine rifles, a shotgun, two pistols without serial numbers and an additional pistol, a grenade launcher, a German stick grenade, 865 rounds of ammunition, two Kevlar vests and multiple ammunition magazines.

Parker was found in possession of 119 rounds of .223 ammunition and 13 rounds of 9mm ammunition, according to a news release.

A search of his home found multiple firearms, ammunition, a grenade, Kevlar vests and THC cartridges, police said.

Parker has been held in the Butler County Prison on $150,000 bond since his arrest in March 2023.