A Florida man was arrested Monday after allegedly choking a 10-year-old boy who had been playing with his son.
Robert Marcu’s eight-year-old son was reportedly having a water gun fight at Gwen Margolis Park when an altercation occurred, according to Local 10 News. Marcu allegedly grabbed the child’s 10-year-old playmate by the neck and shook him aggressively.
An arrest report alleged that Marcu was “impeding [the boy’s] breathing and restricting his air way,” NBC Miami reported.
Video of the incident recorded by an onlooker appears to show Marcu strangling the 10-year-old.
The victim’s father reported the incident to police after his son called him, the outlet noted. Officers who responded to the scene reportedly noticed red marks and scratches on the victim’s neck. (RELATED: Mom Who Allegedly Strangled Three Kids Was ‘Overmedicated,’ Lawyer Says).
The two boys reportedly had ongoing issues and got into a disagreement before Marcu attacked the 10-year-old, Local 10 reported, citing the arrest report.
“Well there were two kids basically playing, like children do, at one of our parks, and at some point they became involved in some type of altercation, child’s play between each other, nothing violent to our knowledge, at that time one of the parents of one of the children decided to intervene and take matters into his own hands,” Sunny Isles Beach Police Sgt. Melissa Porro told NBC Miami. “He went ahead and approached the other child and proceeded to choke this child and violently choke him, causing this child to be extremely fearful and crying and very upset.”
Marcu was arrested and charged with battery by strangulation and aggravated child abuse, according to Miami-Dade inmate records.
“As officers went ahead and took him into custody he basically spontaneously told the officers, ‘yeah, I know what I did, I needed to teach him a lesson,'” Porro told NBC Miami.
The 60-year-old is being held on a $5,000 bond, inmate records show.
