Police: Port Chester Man Strangled Girlfriend After She Refused Sex

A Port Chester man was charged with a recently-passed strangulation law after allegedly choking his girlfriend, according to the Port Chester Police Department.

Police say 42-year-old Miguel Angel Rivas-Acosta was in bed with his 38-year-old girlfriend in the couple's Willett Avenue apartment on Jan. 29. At 6:30 p.m., Rivas-Acosta told his girlfriend he wanted to have sex. When she refused, the Port Chester man allegedly put his hands around the woman's throat and began choking her, according to police.

The victim told police she thought she was going to die before Rivas-Acosta released his grip, Lt. James Ladeairous said.

She filed a complaint with police on Feb. 1. Officers found Rivas-Acosta near his home and brought him into headquarters on a warrant.

Rivas-Acosta was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, a misdemeanor. The new law took effect on Nov. 11, 2010 after then-Gov. David Paterson signed off on the Strangulation Prevention Act of 2010.

There are three grades of the crime; "criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation" is a misdemeanor, while strangulation in the first- and second-degrees are both felonies.

Those charges are based around more specific legal language and are designed to replace assault charges in situations where a victim has been choked or strangled. That's because assault charges have "a high threshold" based on visible physical injuries, according to prosecutors.

Port Chester police said the victim moved out of the apartment she shared with Rivas-Acosta after filing the complaint.

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