MIAMI DADE, FLORIDA: A Florida man who allegedly hit and choked his ex-girlfriend during and after a boat trip to the Florida Keys claimed he was trying to help her, according to police.
Christopher Peter Suda, 45, was arrested early Monday morning, August 14, on charges of domestic battery by strangulation and battery after his ex-girlfriend flagged down a good Samaritan who contacted police on her behalf.
Who is Christopher Peter Suda?
The woman told police that Suda attacked her on Sunday night as they were on the boat entering the channel into Black Point Marina, located south of Cutler Bay.
She said Suda struck her in the back of her head three times, causing her to fall forward. She said Suda then loaded the boat onto a trailer and they got into their vehicle.
As they were driving off, she tried to get out of the moving car, but Suda grabbed her by the neck and pinned her down to the centre console.
Christopher Peter Suda grabbed the victim by the neck and pinned her down
Suda “then grabbed the victim by the neck and pinned her down to the centre console, police said, as reported by Local 10.
She said Suda then pushed her into the side gate of his home in the 8500 block of Caribbean Boulevard and she walked out the other side.
She said she walked away from his residence and was able to get help from a passerby. “The victim sustained marks on her neck and bruising throughout her body," the report said.
Christopher Peter Suda told police that the woman attacked him first
She was taken to Jackson South Medical Center for treatment by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews. Police said they took Suda into custody after he arrived at the hospital later that night.
In an interview at the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Cutler Bay station, Suda told detectives that the woman attacked him first and that he grabbed her by the neck “to prevent her from jumping out of the car and hurting herself.”
Suda was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $6,500 bond. A judge has ordered him to have no contact with the victim.
