A Mahanoy City teenager who police say beat and tried to strangle his mother with the sash from her bathrobe after she tried to take away his iPhone in April is out on reduced bail.

Schuylkill County Judge John Domalakes on May 27 reduced 15-year-old Joseph R. Grutza's bail from $150,000 straight cash to recognizance, meaning he did not have to post money or property to be freed from jail.Domalakes ordered Grutza to live with his paternal grandparents, Cindy and Joseph Grutza of Barnesville.Grutza also is required to stay in school, avoid alcohol and drugs, and stay away from his mother, Kymberly Grutza, and not go to her home.Mahanoy Township police were called to the home on April 27 to handle a domestic assault. When they arrived, Grutza's father told them his son was in the house beating up his mother.Police went into the house to find the boy beating his head against a wall while his mother lay on the floor, struggling to breathe. Furniture and other things had been thrown around, and police described the house as being in disarray.The officers called for an ambulance and handcuffed Grutza.As they waited for medical help to arrive, Kymberly Grutza was able to calm down and breathe more normally. She told police she was talking with her son about his cellphone use, warning him she was going to take it away from him.The resulting argument turned violent, she said. Her son screamed at her, then grabbed her, bit her on the neck and hit her. He pulled the ropelike sash from her robe and tried to strangle her with it. When she was able to loosen it, he choked her with his hands, threatening to kill her.Losing consciousness, she fell to the floor, and he stomped on her chest, threatening to kill her. As she struggled onto her back, he began to stomp on her again.His father was able to shove the teen away from her.Kymberly Grutza, suffering from multiple visible injuries, was taken to a Pottsville hospital.Her son was arraigned before on-call District Judge Anthony Kilker, where he was charged as an adult with felony counts of criminal attempt to commit criminal homicide and aggravated assault, and misdemeanor counts of simple assault and terroristic threats.He was jailed in Schuylkill County prison, and faces a preliminary hearing before Kilker on June 11.