Man tells police he didn't hit wife, he just choked her

YOUNGSTOWN — Reports said a Hickory Court man arrested Wednesday for a charge of domestic violence told police he did not hit his wife, but “I only put her in a choke hold.”

Officers were called at about 7 p.m. for a 911 hang up and when they arrived a small child answered the door and told police her parents were upstairs.

When police went upstairs they heard a woman say, “He’s choking me,” before getting inside a bedroom where they found a woman on the bed and Genaro Fontanez, standing over her.

Reports said the woman told police she was upset Fontanez would not clean the house and he followed her upstairs, knocked her down and started choking her.

The woman told her daughter to call 911, reports said.

Fontanez was taken to the Mahoning County jail.