A 22-year-old Ceres man faces five charges stemming from a Saturday afternoon incident in which he slashed the legs of a woman who intervened when he began physically attacking a dog with a box cutter knife.

The incident was reported at 4:24 p.m. in the 1900 block of Fifth Street.

Officer Christian Izquierdo arrived first and was directed to the backyard of the house where two males were arguing and the victim was sitting in a chair bleeding profusely from her legs. Charles Castleman III, 22, of Ceres would not allow officers to get near the injured woman and became aggressive and combative toward them. They used a less-than-lethal force to subdue Castleman.

Investigating officers determined Castleman was in the process of physically assaulting a dog when the woman tried to intercede and was physically assaulted by Castleman. He then cut her legs with the box cutter. Police said Castleman stabbed himself in the leg with scissors. He was transported to a local hospital where he battered a male nurse attempting to give him medical treatment. 

The woman was treated at a local hospital where she was listed in stable condition.

Castleman was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, obstructing and resisting officers, inflicting corporal punishment on a spouse/co-habitant, cruelty to animals and battery on emergency personnel.