A Topeka man charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and interference with law enforcement after allegedly pistol-whipping his girlfriend and resisting arrest in Lawrence in May waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Juma Jelani Wright

Juma Jelani Wright, 36, was arrested May 20 after allegedly striking a woman with his hand while she was driving on West Fourth Street toward McDonald Drive. When she stopped the vehicle near Fourth Street and McDonald Drive, Wright threatened to shoot her with his handgun, Lawrence police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said in May.

The woman began driving toward Interstate 70, but Wright struck her again, McKinley said. She then pulled over in the 100 block of McDonald Drive to try to get out of the vehicle.

The woman told police that’s when Wright grabbed her clothing to try to keep her in the vehicle and “allegedly struck her in the head with the butt of the handgun,” McKinley said.

The woman eventually escaped the vehicle, but Wright remained inside with the firearm, McKinley said. He then initiated a standoff with police for 30 minutes before officers forcefully removed him from the vehicle.

Wright was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the charges Tuesday, but instead waived his rights to one. Douglas County District Judge Peggy Kittel bound Wright over for jury trial, which she scheduled for Aug. 26.

Wright will appear next in court for a hearing on Aug. 14. He remains in the Douglas County Jail on a $50,000 bond.