A Maiden man allegedly attempted to drown his 23-month-old stepdaughter Monday.

Catawba County sheriff’s deputies arrested Aaron Timothy Burke, 37, Tuesday after his wife filed a warrant. He was charged with assault on a female, child abuse, communicating threats and assault on a child under the age of 12.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Burke’s wife told police she witnessed Burke “attempt to kill her daughter.” The wife left her daughter in Burke’s care at their home on N.C. 16 in Maiden, while she said she went to help a friend move furniture at 6 p.m. Monday.   

She returned home at 7 p.m. Monday to retrieve her driver’s license from a purse in the bedroom closet. According to the report, Burke wasn’t expecting his wife at that time.

The affidavit said she noticed the light was on the adjoining bathroom and saw her daughter’s clothes on the bathroom floor.

She “said that she heard the sound of water splashing loudly,” the report said.

When Burke’s wife entered the bathroom, the report said she, “noticed that one of Aaron’s hands was submerged under water.”

The little girl was struggling against his grip, Burke’s wife said. The wife screamed at him and asked what he was doing. She struck Burke on the back of his neck and retrieved her daughter from the bathtub, according to the report.

“During that time, (the little girl) regurgitated water and began to cough,” the report said.

But the alleged violence didn’t stop.

Burke’s arrest warrant stated that he hit his wife on the left side of her face and knocked her to the ground with his scooter.

Deputy Chief Coy Reid confirmed Burke is disabled.

“He can walk a little, but not much,” Reid said. “He ran into her with his wheelchair.”

The wife also said Burke threatened her not to return to their residence or “he would kill her.”

Authorities said no one was taken to the hospital.

“I know there was no one taken to the hospital,” Reid said.

Burke’s wife had little to add in a brief phone conversation Friday.

“I’m trying to be OK,” she said. “My baby is OK.”

Since the incident wasn’t reported until Tuesday, Reid said some evidence of the alleged violence is still being investigated.

“You have one person’s word against another’s,” Reid said. “This (incident) was reported sometime later after she filed the warrant.”

One day after the incident, Burke was arrested. He was released on a $3,000 secured bond. His trial date is scheduled Nov. 11 at the Catawba County Courthouse in Newton.