A South Salt Lake man has been charged with six felonies in a brutal attack on his estranged wife as she was on her way to work.

Charles Edwin Gordon, 35, was separated from his wife at the time of the assault on Sept. 8 and she had a protective order against him. But prosecutors say that didn't stop him from following his wife into the parking lot of her work, 2500 S. Lake Park Blvd. After she noticed he was tailing her, she rolled down her window and screamed for someone to call 911.

"He's going to kill me," she said. Gordon rammed her car as she tried to get away from him by driving down a fire lane, according to charges filed in 3rd District Court.

"(The woman) exited her vehicle and attempted to reach the building on foot, but the defendant tackled her before reaching the building and began strangling her," the charges state.

Witnesses came to the woman's rescue and tried to restrain Gordon while she got up and ran inside. Prosecutors say he followed her and tackled her a second time as bystanders intervened again.

Because Gordon allegedly "latched onto the buttocks of the victim with his teeth as he was being pulled off of her," he was charged with forcible sex abuse, a second-degree felony.

Gordon was also charged with attempted murder with injury and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies; stalking with serious prior history, a second-degree felony; retaliation against a witness, victim or informant, and violation of a protective order, third degree felonies; and driving under the influence, a class B misdemeanor.

According to prosecutors, the violent incident was a last desperate attempt to keep the woman from testifying against him at an imminent trial in which he is accused of aggravated assault.

Prosecutors say the woman suffered a fractured arm, a broken nose, as well as abrasions and scratches.