POCATELLO — A 42-year-old local man was arrested Monday morning after police say he held a woman down at knifepoint and attempted to rape her inside an abandoned downtown apartment complex.

Tyrell Owen Dixey, Pocatello, has been charged with battery with intent to commit a serious felony, in this case rape, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault resulting in great bodily harm, all felonies, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal obtained Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors also filed notice they will seek a persistent violator sentencing enhancement against Dixey based on prior felony convictions.

The incident began to unfold in the early morning hours on Monday when Pocatello police were dispatched to a 310 E. Center St. in Pocatello after a woman flagged down a nearby officer and said a man had taken her to an abandoned upstair apartment and tried to rape her, according to a detailed incident report contined in the probable cause affidavit filed against Dixey

The woman led officers into the building and up a darkened second-floor hallway, telling them the man was likely still inside, the affidavit states.

Officers located Dixey emerging from a vacant apartment while smoking a cigarette and detained him. Inside the unit, officers said they saw a large knife lying in plain view on the floor and later obtained a search warrant to seize it, police said in the affidavit.

The woman told officers she and Dixey had met for the first time earlier that day and walked to the building together. As soon as she was inside the second-floor room, the woman told Dixey she was uncomfortable and wanted to leave, but he grabbed her and told her she was staying with him, the affidavit states.

The woman told investigators Dixey then threw her to the ground, removed his shirt, groped her, put his arm around her throat and tried to kiss her while telling her to be quiet, police said.

She said Dixey told her he was angry about being cheated on and said, "I'm in love with you, you're going to be my wife," the affidavit states.

The woman told officers Dixey pulled out a large knife, pointed it at her and held her down by the chest while straddling her, and that she told him, "Don't you kill me," according to the affidavit.

The woman told officers that Dixey laughed, told her he would not kill her, and tossed the knife toward a window before she was able to fight him off and flee the building, police said. A search of the apartment turned up a knife described as roughly 8 inches long lying on the floor, according to the affidavit.

During an interview, Dixey told officers he had only gone into the building to use the restroom, denying anything physical happened between him and the woman, according to court records.

Dixey was subsequently arrested and booked inside the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.

Dixey appeared before 6th District Magistrate Judge David A. Hooste for an arraignment hearing via video conference from the Bannock County Jail Monday, where his bond was set at $50,000 and a no-contact order was issued between him and the woman.

He is scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 8 for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate the case from magistrate to district court for trial.

If convicted of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery with the intent to commit a serious felony and aggravated assault resulting in great bodily harm, Dixey faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $60,000.

Idaho law caps the maximum penalty for attempting a crime punishable by up to life in prison, such as rape, at 15 years. Battery with intent to commit a serious felony carries no such cap, making it punishable by up to 20 years in this case.

The two aggravated assault charges are both punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.