Buckeye police say messages exchanged on Reddit connect a local man to an alleged plan to have his fiancée attacked while she was home with her children. The woman escaped and fought off the attacker in her driveway.

Zarian Dyer, 23, was arrested Thursday morning at his workplace near Roosevelt Street and Verrado Way on eight charges. The suspected attacker, Adrian Ayala, 20, was arrested Oct. 17.

Officers first responded on the evening of Oct. 16 to a home near Southern Avenue and Miller Road. A woman reported that an unknown man had walked in and choked her while she was alone with her two children. Court documents state the intruder kicked her 17-month-old child, who fell and hit her head on a baby gate.

The woman told police she struck, kicked and tried to choke the man as he strangled her. He reportedly tried to remove her clothing, but she got out of the house and fought him off outside. A neighbor heard her screaming and saw her chasing the man. The two women then returned to the home and called police. Ayala was identified through license plate camera data and vehicle records, and officers tracked him to his Goodyear home.

Home security video captured Ayala telling the victim that her partner had sent him to sexually assault her and that they had met on Reddit. Court paperwork quotes him as saying, “your boyfriend told me you’d be into this.” Ayala’s attorney repeated that claim in court. Police said the victim adamantly denied consenting. She told Arizona’s Family she did not know Ayala and did not believe Dyer did either.

Detectives searched phones and devices belonging to both men. “They were able to review some of the data from those devices and locate evidence showing that the suspect and the fiancé had been communicating about this planned assault,” said Carissa Planalp of Buckeye Police. Investigators said Ayala’s phone held Reddit messages from Dyer’s account in which Dyer said he wanted someone to force themselves on his fiancée.

At Dyer’s first court appearance Thursday night, a state prosecutor alleged he urged Ayala to come to the house, where his fiancée would be “alone and unsuspecting,” and told him to FaceTime during the attack. Court documents say Dyer asked, “Are you down?” and wanted the assault carried out even if she resisted. He allegedly told Ayala not to tell her, gave directions and parking instructions, and said “I own her and her body.” Investigators also said he installed the Reddit app and removed it on the day of the attack.

Dyer told police he leaped from his car and chased Ayala after returning from the store, and that the two fought before Ayala fled. Police said home video showed him sitting in his car for 44 seconds first. He called the allegations “bullcrap,” and later described the messages as “disgusting.” Court documents say Fry’s video showed him at a gas pump while the chat included the message “I’m getting gas,” and his phone logged a $20 fuel purchase at 5:50 p.m. Asked to take a polygraph about the messages, he answered, “No.”

Dyer was booked on charges including aggravated assault, sexual abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping and conspiracy. His bond was set at $500,000. “We’re fortunate that the injuries were not serious,” Planalp said, calling it “a very scary, terrifying situation for this family.”