A Seminole County man faces multiple charges after authorities say he choked a 13-year-old boy who was cutting through his property and threw the teenager’s phone into a nearby lake.
Kyle Riva, 70, was arrested following the Monday evening incident on Tigua Island Court, located northeast of Orlando. Court records show Riva is charged with third-degree battery by strangulation, third-degree robbery by sudden snatching, and first-degree misdemeanor damage of property between $200 and $1,000.
According to an arrest report, the confrontation began around 7:10 p.m. when a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy walked through Riva’s backyard. Riva’s wife saw the children, walked outside, and asked them to leave. The report states the 13-year-old boy cursed at her, prompting her to go back inside and inform her husband.
Riva then walked outside “angry,” according to court documents. The 13-year-old pulled out his cellphone to record the interaction. The arrest report notes that Riva initially “pushed” the boy “once near the collarbone,” but the teenager kept filming.
However, the teenagers provided additional details to investigators, stating the interaction was an aggressive physical assault. They told deputies that Riva approached the older boy “aggressively,” which made the teenager feel he was in danger and prompted him to start recording. According to the report, Riva then grabbed the 13-year-old “by the neck and began to squeeze.”
The document states that the defendant “then grabbed the phone” from the teenager’s hands “and threw it into Lake Antigua, which backs up to Kyle’s backyard.”
The two boys left the property and went to the older teenager’s home. After hearing what happened, the boy’s father told them to call 911 and informed authorities he wanted to press charges. Responding deputies reported seeing physical evidence of an altercation, noting that the boy had bruises on his throat that “clearly show the impressions of fingers which had wrapped around his throat.”
Riva made his initial court appearance on Tuesday and is no longer held in the Seminole County Jail. He is scheduled to return to court for his arraignment on August 25.
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