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NORWALK, Conn. An intoxicated Bridgeport man was arrested early Easter Sunday and charged with trying to strangle his girlfriend in the parking lot of a Norwalk McDonald's, police say. The pair were arguing because he had kissed another woman while they were out celebrating her 21st birthday. The girlfriend said she was unable to breathe and passed out during the attack.
The pair had been at Stamford's Club 84 with her sister, Sgt. James Boff said. When they were done partying, the girls' mother picked them up to take them home to Bridgeport. In the car, the girlfriend confronted him about the indiscretion, and the two argued.
The boyfriend, Robby Rivera, 23, of 147 Ridge St., Bridgeport, was "very drunk," Boff said. The mother stopped at the Connecticut Avenue McDonald's between 2:30 and 3 a.m. and went inside with the victim's sister. When they came back out they found Rivera strangling the 21-year-old, police said.
The mother tried to pull Rivera off and he kept hitting the victim, Boff said. Finally the mother pulled Rivera off and he staggered away from the car and fell on the ground. The mother drove off with her daughters and went to St. Vincent Medical Center in Bridgeport, where attendants called Norwalk Police at 4:49 a.m.
At 6:12 a.m., Norwalk Police went with Bridgeport Police to Rivera's residence, where they found him sleeping upstairs, Boff said. He was taken to Norwalk Police headquarters and charged with disorderly conduct, strangulation second degree and assault third degree.
The victim had handprints and bruises on her right arm and scratches to her face, Boff said. She said she had blacked out when she couldn't breathe and when she came to, he still had his hands around her neck.
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