Katonah Man Faces Assault Charges After Allegedly Choking Wife

A 33 year-old Katonah man is facing third-degree assault charges after allegedly knocking his wife to the floor, striking her with his fists, slapping her and attempting to choke her, said police.

Police responded to a call from his wife who was at their home on Deer Park Road, around 6:15 p.m. on Sept. 22. The couple had argued, she said, and Ramos had ripped up a check and attempted to shove it in her mouth. She had lacerations on her nose and neck, according to the police report.

After he allegedly assaulted her, he fled their home before police arrived. Bedford police found Ramos and arrested him at the 7-Eleven on Route 100 in Somers.

He was taken into custody and brought before Judge Quaranta, who set Ramos' bail at $5,000 but in lieu of posting bail, Ramos was remanded to the Westchester County Jail.

More police awareness of domestic violence

It is 84th "domestic incident" reported this year in the town of Bedford, according to police records—whereby a police investigation is classified as a domestic incident leading to a report filed with New York State.

Of those incidents, only a handful are related to relationship violence like the Ramos case, said Bedford Police Lieutenant Jeffrey Dickan.

"Because of more aggressive reporting, we refer to any incident of a domestic nature—from a report of kids fighting in the backyard to serious incidents of violence at home—as domestic incidents," he said. "There may not necessarily be a crime tied to all of them. But though we do get smaller incidents tucked in there, we also don't lose any through the cracks."

In Westchester, reported assaults, sex offenses and violations of protective orders rose to 2,632 incidents in 2010 from 2,490 in 2009, according to state Division of Criminal Justice Services statistics.

Dickan said he didn't think there was a rise in the incidents in Bedford but more stringent reporting and improved officer training have yielded better responses to incidents and prevention of re-occurrences.

"We used to have to rely on the victims to press charges, but can now we take initiative to make the charges even if victim doesn’t want to," he said. "Because officers are more educated on domestic violence crimes, they are better at saying to victims 'this shouldn’t be happening to you.' They are also knowledgeable about local resources like counselors and safe houses and other support services." 

In October, which is local police supervisors will participate in a training at My Sister's Place, an advocacy group and shelter for abused women in White Plains.

In addition to the assault charges, Ramos faces a misdemeanor charge of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. The maximum penalty for both crimes is up to a year in jail and fines.