An Austin man pleaded not guilty last week in Mower County Court to allegations that he choked a woman outside of Mickey’s Bar.

Kristopher Samuel Quesada, 26, has been charged with third-degree assault, domestic assault by strangulation and misdemeanor domestic assault for the incident that allegedly occurred early the morning of Feb. 13.

According to a court complaint, Quesada was at Mickey’s Bar with a woman who introduced him to her coworker. Her coworker apparently joked that he knew the woman better than Quesada because of the time they spend working together.

Quesada took the comment wrong, according to the court complaint, and allegedly pulled the woman out of the bar, punched her in the face, choked her and dragged her by the hair to his car.

The woman complained of dizziness and pain in her jaw. A doctor at Austin Medical Center said she had a “contusion, swelling left mandible, contusion left ribs,” which qualifies as substantial bodily harm.

When police questioned him, Quesada said he became angry with the woman and slapped her outside of the bar, but he denied ever choking her.

Quesada is set to appear in court for his pre-trial on May 27 and for his jury trial on June 6.