Police accuse man of assault on girlfriend

Police arrested a man after he punched his girlfriend in the head, tried to strangle her and then “raised an ax at her and demanded she get the kids dressed to leave,” Stark County Jail records show.

The Canton Repository reports Michael J. Phillips, 25, of Louisville, was arrested at 6:11 p.m. Monday at his home on charges of felonious assault and domestic violence.

The woman told police that Phillips had “strangled her to the point she felt like she was going to pass out.”

The jail records did not list the events that preceded the reported assault.

Phillips was convicted of assault last year after he reportedly punched an older relative in the head so many times the man required medical attention, Stark County court records show. Phillips was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but the sentence was suspended. He was then placed on intensive supervisory probation.

The court records also show he was arrested in 2016 on a domestic violence charge after he was accused of slapping his child’s mother. He was convicted instead of disorderly conduct.

Phillips was being held on charges from the Monday night incident. Bond was set at $60,000, pending an Alliance Municipal Court hearing.