LAS VEGAS >> An Arizona woman is facing an attempted murder charge and a man identified as her boyfriend faces two felonies after a Christmas week shooting that left a motorist badly wounded on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said today.

Brittanie Merritt-Burwell, 21, and Joshua Youngblood, 28, were scheduled to face a judge Friday on charges stemming from the Dec. 23 shooting on Las Vegas Boulevard, a court clerk said.

Justice of the Peace Janiece Marshall could appoint lawyers appointed to represent them.

Witnesses told police that a woman got out of white Chevrolet Impala with Arizona license plates, approached the man’s vehicle and shot him through an open window about 11:20 p.m. near Harmon Avenue and the Hawaiian Marketplace

The wounded motorist, who wasn’t identified, was shot once in the neck, police said. He was hospitalized at University Medical Center.

Merritt-Burwell and Youngblood were arrested Monday at a fast-food restaurant several blocks west of the Strip, according to a police report. Youngblood faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon and harboring a felony offender.

Merritt-Burwell told detectives she was defending herself after a traffic dispute. She said she hit the man with a silver 9 mm pistol in her right hand after the man grabbed her left arm and tried to pull her inside his vehicle.

She said she heard one gunshot and handed the weapon to Youngblood, who drove her car while she removed traffic cones to let him enter a nearby driveway and drive away.

Merritt-Burwell told police she was from Glendale, Ariz., but had been staying at various Las Vegas hotels for about two weeks.

Police said they had contact with Merritt-Burwell five days before the shooting when officers were investigating a report of an attempted vehicle theft at the nearby Hooters hotel-casino. Police said Merritt-Burwell and another woman were issued "warning citations" but they were not arrested.