Police: Dad choked 13-year-old son until he vomited (Rock Hill, South Carolina)

Dad is identified as ROBERT EDWARD BOYD. A history of choking people is strongly correlated with eventual murder.

http://www.thestate.com/2013/05/28/2790359/police-dad-choked-teen-son-until.html

Police: Dad choked teen son until he vomited

Published: May 28, 2013 Updated 22 minutes ago
The (Rock Hill) Herald

ROCK HILL, SC — A Charlotte father was charged with cruelty to children after police say he choked his teenage son to the point the boy vomited in a Rock Hill park on Saturday.

Police were sent to Cherry Park at about 12 p.m. after a caller said she saw a man choke a child who later threw up before they left the park in a silver Pathfinder, according to a Rock Hill police report. Police saw the car traveling on Cherry Road and stopped the driver, identified as Robert Edward Boyd, 49.

A boy, 13, sat in the backseat crying as Boyd admitted that he lost his temper and then lost control, the report states. Officers spoke with the boy, who said his parents had been arguing so he stepped in between them. That's when his father grabbed his shirt collar “and squeezed,” the report states. He said his father wasn't trying to hurt him, although his neck was red.

A witness told police that Boyd placed his hands around the boy's neck and his face began changing color, the report states. She said the boy's mother had to make her husband stop. She said she watched as the boy got in the car but stepped out to vomit.

The mother told police that Boyd never meant to hurt their son but was trying to discipline him, the report states. Boyd and the mother both said the boy was forcefully, but accidentally, pushed into a fence.

Police arrested Boyd, who said he had never hurt his son before, the report states.