Nassau Man Tried To Choke Mother Holding Infant: Police

NORTH BELLMORE, NY — A Hicksville man has been arrested after police said he choked the mother of an infant child during an argument in North Bellmore.

Officers previously responded to a North Bellmore home Thursday for a disturbance. As an argument escalated between Peter Rello, 30, and a 29-year-old woman, he shoved and choked her, causing her difficulty breathing, and left her "in fear of her well-being" as she was holding a baby, detectives said.

Rello broke items in the home and took off, and the woman called 911, police said.

Around 2 p.m. Friday, police came back to the North Bellmore home where Rello had returned, and he tried to flee again, police said. After a brief chase, "a struggle ensued," and Rello refused to comply with officers' commands, detectives said. He became combative, preventing them from arresting him, according to detectives. One officer was taken to a hospital with shoulder and arm injuries, detectives said.

Rello faces charges of second-degree assault and criminal obstruction of breathing, as well as fourth-degree criminal mischief, and endangering the welfare of a child.

He was arraigned Saturday in at First District Court, Hempstead.