Woman Strangled Teen At Astoria Sushi Restaurant, Police Say

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Police arrested a woman who was caught on video choking a teenager last week while the girl ate outdoors at an Astoria sushi restaurant.

On Monday, Oct. 4, around 5:22 p.m., a woman walked up behind a teenager, 16, who was eating outdoors at Watawa Sushi, located at 33-10 Ditmars Boulevard.

Then, in an incident captured on video, the woman briefly wrapped her arm around the teen's neck, making it hard for her to breathe. The woman started to walk away, but then turned back to approach the teen again, at which point someone else seemed to intervene, the video shows.

The 16-year-old's neck was red and swollen after the incident, police said, but she was not taken to the hospital.

The woman — who police initially identified as a man but later determined was a woman named Minerva Martinez — left the restaurant after the choking incident, but was arrested by police several days later.

The NYPD charged Martinez, a 36-year-old homeless person, with one count of strangulation on Oct. 9.