A 36-year-old Oak Harbor man is facing charges for allegedly strangling his wife while she was holding a toddler, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Bryce M. Oxford in Island County Superior Court March 13 with assault in the second degree and reckless endangerment.

The woman reported to police March 9 that Oxford assaulted her during an argument over him driving the children while drunk, the police report states.

She said he picked her off the ground by her throat while she was holding a 2-year-old child; she started losing consciousness but was saved when other children intervened, the report states. He threw the woman, who was still holding the child, to the ground, the report indicates.

The children and the woman reported that Oxford regularly assaults her, according to court documents.

The police found Oxford asleep in a car parked on Goldie Road; the car had a “very strong smell of intoxicants,” the report states.

Oxford denied assaulting the woman and said the fight was only verbal.

In court March 11, Oxford’s father said he could live with him in a home outside of the county. The judge released Oxford on his personal recognizance.