A man who tried to play peacemaker at Butler's annual Christmas parade instead found himself at the wrong end of a knife.

“I was pretty scared,” Michael Striegel said of seeing what he described as a “fairly large knife” that another man is accused of pulling on him.

He recounted the Nov. 24 incident during testimony at a preliminary hearing Monday for defendant Michael R. Sparks, 31, of Butler.

District Judge William Fullerton later ordered Sparks held for court on a felony charge of aggravated assault and misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats and possession of a controlled substance.

Following the hearing, Sparks was returned to the Butler County Prison, where he's being held on $25,000 bail.

Striegel, the father of a 2-year-old daughter, was with a friend at the Spirit of Christmas parade in downtown Butler shortly before 5:50 p.m. when Sparks appeared.

The defendant, who had his own young daughter on his shoulders, apparently pushed his way to the front of the crowd lining North Main Street in front of the Dunkin' Donuts to get a better view of the parade.

But in doing so, he blocked the views of others, said Patrolman William Dobson, including a woman and three children.

Striegel said he heard the woman “politely” ask Sparks to move out of the way.

The defendant got into an argument with other paradegoers and used obscenities in front of the children, according to testimony.

“I stepped in and asked (Sparks) to stop (his vulgar language),” Striegel testified. He even offered his own place to the defendant.

“He told me to mind my (expletive) business,” Striegel said. Sparks then allegedly brandished a knife and dared Striegel to fight him.

“(Sparks) had it gripped in his hand as if he was going to use it,” Striegel told defense attorney Joseph Smith, a county public defender, during cross-examination.

But when pressed, he conceded that Smith's client never swung the knife or moved it toward him. No one was injured.

Patrolman Myles Bizub was on traffic detail at Main and North streets when he heard screaming coming from the front of Dunkin' Donuts, Dobson said. Bizub immediately moved in.

“The officer grabbed, disarmed and pulled (Sparks) away,” Striegel recounted.

If not for Bizub's quick action, Striegel added, the incident could have “escalated.”

Dobson testified that Sparks was taken to the station, where he gave a “full confession” to police.

According to court documents, police also found him with hydrocodone, an opioid painkiller for which he did not have a prescription.

Following testimony, Smith asked Fullerton to dismiss the most serious charge.

“Mere words and brandishing a knife does not rise to the level of aggravated assault,” he said.

But Fullerton ruled that by pulling the knife in such proximity of the victim, Sparks took a substantial step toward attempting to cause serious bodily injury — an element of the crime of felony assault.