CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A North Royalton man who, according to police, tried to gouge a police officer’s eyes and threatened to kill was indicted on attempted murder and felonious assault charges.

A grand jury on Monday handed up a six-count indictment that charges John Pugnea in the attack on patrol officer Alexandra Bell and the road-rage incident that brought Bell to Pugnea’s home in the first place.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement that Pugnea attacked Bell while she was simply trying to do her job.

“He will be held accountable for this violent, inexcusable attack,” O’Malley said in a statement.

Pugnea is currently jailed on $500,000 bond. He is set for a Thursday arraignment.

Bell went to Pugnea’s home on Lynn Drive, off of York Road, about 4:30 p.m. Aug. 18 to investigate a road-rage incident, according to police reports.

A 911 caller told police a man in a white sedan swerved and passed other cars on a double-yellow line on State Road near Albion Road. The caller told police the man yelled at him when he tried to tell him he was driving dangerously, and the man told the caller to follow him into the parking lot and he would kill him, the report says. The caller gave police the car’s license plate, which was registered to Pugnea, the report says.

Bell wrote in her report that she spotted Pugnea’s car and followed him back to his house, and tried to talk to him when he pulled into his driveway. Pugnea appeared drunk and smelled of alcohol, and refused her repeated commands to stay in his car, her report said. Pugnea opened his garage and started to walk into the house, and Bell tried to arrest him, the report says.

Pugnea pushed Bell, and the two began to struggle, the report says. Pugnea punched Bell in the face multiple times and threatened to kill her, the report said. He yelled for his wife, who came out of the home and tried separate the two of them, and bit her husband in her efforts to get him to stop, the report said.

“The only thing, ma’am, saving you, is my wife,” Pugnea said, according to police reports.

The two continued to struggle, and Bell eventually got her pepper spray and sprayed Pugnea in the face, the report said. Pugnea then grabbed Bell’s face, and jabbed his thumbs into her eyes so hard Bell wrote she thought they were going to pop, the report said.

Pugnea let go of Bell’s face and got off her, the report says. Bell drew her pistol on Pugnea as other officers arrived and helped arrest him, the reports say.

North Royalton police refused to release body camera or dashboard camera video of the incident, citing an exemption placed into Ohio’s public records in April that shields from the public videos that show violent attacks that leave police officers seriously injured.

Pugnea was arrested in 1982 on misdemeanor charges of aggravated assault that were eventually dropped to resisting arrest, according to court records. He also received probation for a 2001 domestic violence conviction, records show.

To comment on this story, please visit Tuesday’s crime and courts comments page.