Man jailed for attacking wife

SANDPOINT — An Oldtown man was arrested Friday for allegedly attacking his wife as she held their two-month child in her arms.

Colton Tyler Wylie is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted strangulation, both of which are felonies. He’s also facing misdemeanor counts of domestic battery in the presence of a child and child endangerment.

Magistrate Court Judge Gaylen Box ordered Wylie held in lieu of $25,000 bail, court records show. A no-contact order forbids Wylie from being in contact with his wife or their child.

An unemployed Wylie, 22, applied for the appointment of a public defender to represent him, although it’s unclear in court records if the appointment was approved.

The alleged victim, who no longer lives with the defendant, told a Bonner County sheriff’s deputy that she awoke early Friday morning to find Wylie holding a knife to her throat as she slept with their child, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Wylie also choked the woman with both hands until she could not breathe and punched her in the face, a criminal complaint alleges. The woman told a deputy she had argued with Wylie, who was upset she had not returned his phone calls.

Wylie, the affidavit said, confirmed that there was an argument, but flatly denied that there was a physical confrontation between the two.

A preliminary hearing on the felony charges is pending.