A Mill Valley personal trainer who tried to throw his former client/wife from the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in front of a crowd of motorists has agreed to plead no contest to a single domestic violence charge, prosecutors said today.

Xavier Jarrell McClinton, 48, pleaded no contest in San Mateo County Superior Court to felony domestic violence with an enhancement for infliction of great bodily injury and a serious felony allegation, a spokesperson from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe says that on Friday December 13, 2013, an argument between McClinton and his wife Nadia escalated as they drove on the San Mateo Bridge, to the point that Xavier apparently tried to drive through the guardrail and into the Bay. After their Honda Pilot failed to crash through the barrier, witnesses then saw McClinton get out of the vehicle and drag his wife out as she struggled to escape. They then saw him attempt to throw her over the side of the bridge, Wagstaffe said.

Nadia McClinton was saved by these witnesses, who got out of their cars to intervene. During the struggle, McClinton fell around 15 feet from the bridge into the Bay. According to the San Mateo County Times, though Xavier was uninjured in the altercation, Nadia "received a major gash to her face that required extensive suturing to close."

Immediately following the incident, Nadia told investigators that Xavier had been demonstrating recent mental health issues, saying that he believed that people were planning an attack on their home with the intent to kill his family.

The married couple, who lived in Mill Valley with Nadia's mother and their three children, are co-owners of Body By X Gym in Corte Madera. According to a Marin Independent Journal feature from 2011, Nadia first met Xavier as one of his clients, and a romantic relationship ensued. They had been married for eight years at the time of the domestic violence incident on the bridge.

At the time of his arrest, Xavier McClinton was was charged with attempted murder, spurring Nadia to mount a crowdsourcing campaign for her husband's legal defense. "Anyone who knows Xavier knows he is a gentle giant and has given so much to so many," Nadia wrote on their Go Find Me page. "This is a way to help him in his time of need." At publication time, the defense fund had raised $13,550 toward a $40,000 goal.

Wagstaffe said today that Xavier McClinton agreed to a no-contest plea in return for an agreed-upon maximum sentence of seven years in state prison. McClinton’s sentencing is scheduled for May 16.