Ruben Washington booking photo (Handout)

An Atlanta man is in custody on aggravated assault and other charges stemming from a seemingly random alleged attack on a paralegal with the Fulton County District Attorney's Office in the county courthouse elevator Tuesday morning.

Ruben Eric Washington, 41, was denied bond during his arraignment Wednesday and remains in the Fulton County Jail. In addition to the two felony aggravated assault charges, he faces three counts each of misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer and simple battery, according to online court records.

The unnamed victim did not know Washington, and a motive for the alleged assault is not known, Fulton County DA's office spokesman Chris Hopper said in an email.

A Fulton County Sheriff's Office incident report describes the alleged attack as follows: Shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday, the paralegal and a man were both waiting for the elevator on the fourth floor of the Fulton County Courthouse. After the pair entered and the doors closed, the man placed the victim in a “chokehold,” putting his hands around her neck to try and stop her breathing.

The victim began screaming and pushing buttons on the elevator, which stopped on the eighth floor, where Decatur-based criminal defense attorney Michael Katz intervened.

In an interview on Thursday, Katz said he heard the victim's screams become increasingly loud, and he became more aware of the seriousness of the situation as the elevator approached. He was leaving the courthouse after attending a criminal proceeding in courtroom 8C, he added.

When the elevator opened, Katz said he saw scattered papers and mail and a woman on the ground with a man on top of her. The man had one arm around the woman's neck and was holding a pair of scissors in his other hand, Katz recalled.

After another bystander put his foot in the path of the door to prevent it from closing, Katz, a longtime martial arts practitioner, moved in. He said he entered the elevator, reached down to pull the man off the woman, put a hold around the man's neck and warned him “to stay down.”

“I'm not going to let that happen. I've trained for that over the years,” Katz said, adding that the man was silent during the entire incident.

Hopper of the DA's office said the paralegal “is OK” and returned to work shortly after the incident.

According to online court and state Bar records, Reona Florence Bray of the Office of Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit, is representing Washington. Bray could not be reached for comment Thursday.

At the time of his arrest, Washington was wanted for a probation violation stemming from a 2010 shoplifting charge. Terms of that probation required him to continue with mental health treatment and medication, according to the warrant.