A suspected drunken driver will stand trial on charges that he allegedly threatened two Butler police officers with a knife earlier this month.

District Judge Pete Shaffer at a preliminary hearing Monday ordered Tyler A. Crawford, 28, of Butler held for court on felony and other charges.

Police Lt. James Hollobaugh testified that he was called about 9:50 p.m. June 13 for a hit-and-run accident in the 300 block of North Elm Street.

Several witnesses reported seeing a silver Toyota hit three parked vehicles. The driver drove away.

Moments later, police were notified that the same car had struck the bus stop at the Grapevine Center in the 100 block of North Elm Street.

At Monday’s hearing, Ethan Landis of Butler testified that he was standing outside the center and saw the crash. He said he initially believed the driver was having a seizure.

But when the car took off from the scene, Landis chased after it, finding the vehicle at a nearby convenience store. He identified Crawford as the driver.

Upon confronting the suspect at the car, Landis said, he was attacked.

“(Crawford) grabbed me by the throat and I told him, “You don’t want to do that,’” Landis testified.

The defendant drove away.

About 25 minutes after the initial call, police found the damaged car parked at the rear of Crawford’s home on North Monroe Street.

Hollobaugh testified that he and Patrolman Caleb Forsythe knocked on the door. Crawford’s father, who also lives there, let them into the house.

The officers confronted the defendant and ordered him to show his hands.

“But (Crawford) was keeping his right hand behind his back,” Hollobaugh told prosecutor Mark Lope, a Butler County assistant district attorney. “He then retreated to another room.”

The officers had to force their way in. Still, however, the suspect would not show his hands.

For their own safety, Hollobaugh said, Forsythe deployed his Taser, hitting the suspect in the shoulder with the probe. Crawford pulled his right hand from behind his back. He was holding a knife.

“He was threatening us with the knife,” Hollobaugh told Crawford’s attorney, public defender Terri Schultz, on cross-examination.

A struggle ensued and police took the defendant, who reeked of alcohol, to the ground, the officer recounted. During the fracas, Hollobaugh said, he bruised his right hand and suffered a minor cut to the side of his face.

Asked by Schultz if the knife caused the cut, Hollobaugh replied, “I have no idea.”

Hollobaugh, the following day, was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital, and released. He missed no time on the job.

Crawford is charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, driving under the influence, hit-and-run and reckless driving.

He remains in the Butler County Prison on $75,000 bail.