A Penn Township man is charged with aggravated assault and other crimes after police said a casual wrestling match left another man in critical condition with a fractured skull.

Jake G. Stepansky, 29, of the Claridge neighborhood in Penn Township is charged with aggravated assault, strangulation and reckless endangerment.

Police were called to a home on Church Street around 9:15 p.m. Saturday, March 7, for a report of an unresponsive male. A 911 caller told dispatchers two men had been “roughhousing” and one was unresponsive and snoring, according to court records. While en route, Penn Township police officers were told that CPR was being performed on the man, later identified as Joseph Hixson.

When police arrived, they spoke to Stepansky, who was visibly upset, punching the pavement and throwing himself on the ground, according to a sworn affidavit. Officers observed pooled blood on the asphalt at the end of the driveway on Church Street.

Police said the 911 caller told them his family and neighboring families had gathered for a small fire in the driveway shortly before 6:30 p.m. The gathering broke up around 9 p.m., while the caller, Hixson and Stepansky remained behind.

The caller told police that Hixson and Stepansky often play-fought and he initially didn’t think anything of the interaction. However, at one point he saw Stepansky spin Hixson around and place him in a chokehold. When Stepansky let go, Hixson fell straight back, striking the back of his head on the pavement.

Security camera footage provided by the caller shows the men wrestling with Stepansky’s left arm wrapped around Hixson’s neck, according to court documents.

At one point in the video, police said they could hear Stepansky saying, “Here we go, here we go, here we go,” just before grunting and dropping Hixson to the ground. Police said the video showed Hixson’s head bouncing off the pavement; he did not move afterward.

The caller can be heard yelling Hixson’s name in the video before Stepansky says, “I didn’t think it was that serious.”

Hixson was taken to a Pittsburgh-area hospital in critical condition with a fractured skull and brain bleed, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

Stepansky was denied bail and remains in Westmoreland County Prison. His attorney, Owen Seman, declined to comment.

A preliminary hearing is set for March 17 before District Judge Rebecca Tyburski.