A man who escorted a woman to her boyfriend’s home in December 2017 so she could remove some property was stabbed three times while trying to stop the boyfriend from choking the woman, officials said. The boyfriend is now facing a felony assault charge, records show.

Jermie Lynn Bentley, 37, of 408 Old Decatur Road, Athens, was arrested on a warrant Saturday on an upgraded charge of first-degree assault with a knife, court records show.

According to the initial report, Limestone County Sheriff’s Deputy Terry Johnson was dispatched to Athens-Limestone Hospital on Dec. 16, 2017, to investigate an assault. The victim told Johnson he had escorted a woman to Jones Crossroads in the Tanner community west of Athens so she could retrieve property from her boyfriend. The victim told Johnson he walked away from the woman at one point and when he returned, he found the boyfriend holding the woman down in the car and choking her. The victim said he grabbed the boyfriend, who spun around and stabbed him twice in the back and once in the left arm.

According to a Dec. 19, 2017, report filed by Limestone County Sheriff’s Investigator Kristin King, Bentley stabbed the victim at least three times with a knife, including once in the spleen. The victim’s spleen had to be surgically removed but he recovered, according to her report. Due to the severity of his injuries, the initial charge of second-degree assault was upgraded to first-degree assault.