WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- A man choked his girlfriend in Watertown and threatened her with both a gun and a knife, police said.

Then, when officers tried to speak with him about the attack, he refused to leave his apartment -- starting a standoff that lasted over four hours, police said.

Karim Mitchell-Rahim, 30, of Watertown, was arrested Friday by the Watertown Police Department. He was taken into custody after he peacefully surrendered, Detective Lt. Joseph R. Donoghue Sr. said in a news release.

The incident started at 3:49 a.m. with a call about a domestic violence incident.

Officers responded to the Great American Food Store’s parking lot off of Boyd Street and spoke to a 24-year-old woman. The woman told officers her boyfriend had threatened her with a handgun and a knife, broken her phone to stop her from calling 911 and choked her, Donoghue said.

After speaking to the woman, officers tried to speak with Mitchell-Rahim at the couple’s 605 Boyd St. apartment, Donoghue said. But the man refused to come outside, he said.

Watertown officers and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies set up a perimeter around the home. Crisis negotiators spoke with Mitchell-Rahim until he agreed to surrender, Donoghue said.

Mitchell-Rahim walked out of his home at 8:08 a.m. and was taken to the Samaritan Medical Center for an evaluation. Meanwhile, detectives executed a search warrant, Donoghue said, and found weapons -- including metal knuckles -- and drugs inside the man’s apartment.

After he was released from the hospital, Mitchell-Rahim was charged with:

Third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony

Two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony

Third-degree criminal mischief, a felony

Second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor

Fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor

Criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, a misdemeanor

Second-degree harassment, a violation

As of Saturday morning, Mitchell-Rahim remained in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility.