EVANS CITY — The case of a Zelienople man accused of slicing his girlfriend's thumb moved forward Tuesday.

Free on $10,000 bond, Kyle R. Wenzel, 26, of Zelienople, arrived to his preliminary hearing Tuesday morning facing one felony count aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats and simple assault.

Wenzel is accused of cutting the thumb of Morgan Nye, who was his girlfriend on Nov. 20, after she brought him home drunk from a bar.

Following a hearing, District Judge Amy Marcinkiewicz moved all charges forward to the county Common Pleas Court, despite arguments made by defense attorney Joe Kecskemethy to dismiss the felony assault and misdemeanor threats charges.

"I understand the magistrate reached the ruling she did, but I disagree that the aggravated assault charge can be sustained for prosecution where you have a victim directly saying the injury was unintentional," said Kecskemethy following the hearing. "The terroristic threat really requires some evidence that someone was threatened other than the defendant threatening to harm himself."

During her testimony, Nye said Wenzel had been threatening to hurt himself with a knife after the two arrived at the shared apartment. Nye said she tried to calm Wenzel, and she put her hands in front of her with her palms facing him.

"He had a knife to his neck, and when he went to put it down, he unintentionally cut my thumb," Nye said.

Nye said Wenzel's mother took her to the hospital for treatment, and she has continued to receive treatment since because of possible nerve and tendon damage.

Kecskemethy pointed out multiple pieces of Nye's testimony that differed from her written testimony. In Nye's statement, she told police her hands were at her side when her thumb was sliced.

Also Nye said in testimony Wenzel had threatened her, but then said the threat had not occurred in this particular incident after being allowed to review her written statement.

Kecskemethy asked why her statements Tuesday differed from those in her written statement.

"I went through a really traumatic event," Nye said. "Writing that statement at that time was probably not the best state of mind for me to write that."

Kecskemethy's arguments mirrored his remarks following the hearing, and Assistant District Attorney David Beichner disagreed, particularly regarding the felony charge.

"The evidence of intent can be inferred by the use of a knife to cause bodily injury for today's purposes," Beichner said.

Wenzel will appear for a preliminary arraignment Feb. 15 in county court.