Derek S. Pope

A Butler man is accused of assaulting his girlfriend with a machete and choking her during a two-hour domestic dispute Tuesday at their home on the 600 block of Center Avenue

Derek S. Pope, 30, is being held in the Butler County Prison on multiple felonies.

Authorities said the victim, 21-year-old Alexzandria Burkett, was taken to Butler Memorial for treatment of injuries. Her condition was not known.

Butler police spoke to Burkett at the hospital where she told them Pope attacked her between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. She said that during that time he repeatedly struck her, according to court documents.

She said the assault started after she told him she was “going to leave and not stay at the house any more,” a police affidavit said.

During the alleged assault, Pope allegedly grabbed a machete and used it to stab and cut holes in a wall. He also is accused of cutting his girlfriend's arm with the large knife.

Burkett recounted that the defendant threw her down several times and at one point strangled her. Police said he also bit the woman.