NEW YORK CITY — Two city employees — a firefighter and a garbage man — were charged with choking their significant other in as many days, Queens prosecutors said Tuesday.
Napoleon Robinson, a Department of Sanitation employee, was arrested at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday after he throttled his girlfriend in their South Ozone Park home, the Queens District Attorney's office said.
The 52-year-old, who faces a second-degree strangulation charge, was awaiting arraignment Tuesday night in Queens Criminal Court. He could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. Department of Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis confirmed Robinson's employment and said disciplinary actions are pending the outcome of the case.
The victim, whose identity was not released, was not hospitalized, an NYPD spokesman said.
Another uniformed employee, New York City firefighter Steven Clarke, was arraigned Monday on charges of choking his wife and second degree harassment. Clarke, 39, of pushed his wife to the floor and squeezing her neck early Monday morning, "making it difficult for her to breathe and causing scratching and redness," according to court papers.
The Far Rockaway resident, who could face up to a year in jail, was released and ordered to return to court on Sept. 6. The six-year FDNY veteran, who is stationed in Queens, could face a suspension, spokesman Frank Dwyer said.
"The offenses that the two defendants are charged with committing are crimes of violence against their loved ones. Domestic violence is a very serious problem and cannot be ignored," Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement.
