A man accused of strangling, biting and holding his ex-girlfriend at knifepoint during a fight last month has pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies in Flathead County District Court. 

Prosecutors charged Mathius Henry Hodges, 22, with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon following the alleged Feb. 10 attack. Hodges, who remains in county jail with bail set at $80,000, was arraigned before Judge Amy Eddy on Feb. 19. 

Eddy set an omnibus hearing in the case for May 20 and a pretrial conference to follow on July 1.  

Authorities began investigating Hodges after a passing motorist found his distraught ex-girlfriend walking with an infant near Montana 35 about 8:20 a.m., Feb. 10, according to court documents. Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies spoke with the woman, who told them she had left her home with one of her children after the alleged attack.  

She said Hodges had gone through her phone while she slept in her South Cedar Drive home and saw her communications with other men, according to court documents. Enraged, he allegedly choked her and then held a knife to her. Then he bit her on the arm, according to court documents.  

The woman told deputies she was forced to agree that they would remain a couple. She left once she felt he had calmed down, court documents said.  

During a second telling of the attack, the woman recalled Hodges cursing at her and threatening to kill her before blocking the door and barring her from leaving the home. Armed with a kitchen knife, Hodges told her that "she was his, that his is crazy and that if he can't have her no one can," court documents said.  

Following Hodges' arrest, deputies searched the home and retrieved the knife he allegedly threatened her with, according to court documents. They also recovered the victim's phone, which Hodges allegedly broke and hid during the fight.  

Felony aggravated assault and assault with a weapon are punishable by up to 20 years behind bars and a $50,000 fine. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 406-758-4430 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.