Man seen allegedly choking a child at a Sunny Isles Beach park bonds out of jail
MIAMI – Robert Sandy Marcu, 60, seen on a viral video allegedly choking a 10-year-old boy who got into a fight with his son, has bonded out of jail.
Sunny Isles Beach Police told CBS News Miami that they are alarmed by the footage showing a child being choked and shaken by a man at Gwen Margolis Park on Memorial Day.
The cell phone shows the child's head bobbing back and forth during the assault. His face is blurred to protect his identity.
They say that child and the man's son were playing with water guns when, at some point, they began to fight.
Marcu is charged with aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm and battery by strangulation. They say it happened just before 6 p.m.
An arrest report said "that juvenile's father, the defendant, grabbed T…B….by the neck impeding his breathing and restricting his airway and shaking him around while gripping his neck."
That left him with red marks and scratches.
The affidavit also said Marcu stated, "I know what I did and I did it to teach him a lesson."
"The biggest concern here is a grown man with the strength of a man went after a child who was helpless and could not defend himself," Sergeant Melissa Porro told CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench. "When things like this happen sometimes we are quick to jump in and do something but we are talking about children."
She said the children had been fighting and she said Marcu intervened and "began to violently choke the child and pretty much scare this child to the point where he was crying and hysterical and very upset."
"It was also prompted by a little fight and some issues they were having," Porro added. "Grown adults should never take matters in to their own hands."
Marcu appeared in bond court before MIami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer.
Marcu tried to discuss his case, saying "Well your honor, the incident was minor."
"Don't talk about the facts," Glazer immediately said. "You are presumed to be not guilty. You have the right to have a lawyer with you."
"You are ordered to stay away from the victim whose initials are T.B. and to have no contact with him, either directly or indirectly or in person or in writing," she added. "Don't go to the park when the boy is there."
In court, we also learned that the children attend the same school.
Porro said the 10-year-old was shaken up but he is ok physically, adding that a check revealed that Marcu had not had any serious problems before with law enforcement.
Marcu's bond was set at $5,000.