AUBURN – A man whose pit bull bit a police officer during his arrest was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend.

A judge suspended all but seven months of the sentence of Marc Jonitis, 22, of Lewiston.

He appeared in tan jail clothes in Androscoggin County Superior Court where he pleaded guilty to assault and refusing to submit to arrest after reaching an agreement with prosecutors. He’s spent 108 days in Androscoggin County jail since his January arrest. That time will be subtracted from his sentence.

His girlfriend, Patricia Read, told Justice Donald Marden it was the first time Jonitis had assaulted her. In an unusual move, she had asked that she be allowed to visit him while he’s in jail and after his release.

“I do want contact with him. I’m pregnant with his kid,” which is due in July, she said.

Marden allowed the jail visits as well as those during the two-year probation that will follow, but only if Jonitis’ probation officer approves. Marden urged Read to learn the warning signs of behavior in an effort to better protect herself.

As part of his sentence, Jonitis must attend a batterer’s intervention program and substance abuse counseling, steer clear of alcohol and illicit drugs, and permit random searches by police without probable cause.

Jonitis’ arrest made headlines in January after his tan pit bull, named Kiss, bit an officer on the buttocks during a confrontation with police.

Police responded to 911 calls by neighbors of his Main Street apartment building. Witnesses said they heard punching sounds coming from the first-floor apartment. They also heard a woman’s screams and the phrase, “Marc, stop hitting me.” A dog was barking in the apartment and a toddler was crying, they told police.

When the officers arrived, they pounded on the apartment door, but nobody answered. When they forced their way into the apartment, they saw Jonitis pinning his teenage girlfriend and a 10-month-old toddler to the floor in the corner of a closet, according to a police affidavit. Jonitis was poised to strike them, his fist cocked, an officer who responded to the scene wrote in court papers.

Jonitis fought with officers as Read and the toddler escaped with Kiss to another room in the apartment.

Even after he was handcuffed, Jonitis continued to kick, police said. He was sprayed with a chemical in an effort to subdue him, then taken to a hospital to be evaluated for possible injuries sustained during his arrest.

An officer was bitten by Kiss when he tried to handcuff Jonitis, but the bite didn’t break the skin and didn’t require medical treatment, police said.

Jonitis was convicted on misdemeanor assault charges twice before, once in 2003 and again in 2005.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Worden outlined in court the events of the arrest. Leonard Sharon, attorney for Jonitis, said the state’s evidence convinced his client of the likelihood of a conviction were he to go to trial.