MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade County high school teacher was arrested Sunday on accusations that he beat and choked his wife, authorities said.
Rodolfo Amaral, 31, is currently employed at Felix Varela Senior High School. Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego said the district is moving to "immediately terminate his employment."
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She said he has worked for the school district for four years with no prior issues.
According to an arrest report, Amaral and the victim have been married for a year and a half and have lived together until recently, as they are going through a divorce.
Police said Amaral's wife claimed her husband has been physically abusive toward her since August 2017, with the latest incident happening last week.
The woman first recalled to detectives an alleged incident from June 7, in which she claimed Amaral tried to strike her in the face with his elbow.
She told police she used her left hand to block his elbow and went to the emergency room for treatment.
Police said the victim claimed that Amaral would not leave her side at the hospital and she feared telling hospital staff about what occurred, so she told the nurses that she injured her hand with something from the kitchen.
According to the arrest report, Amaral and the victim got into an argument on Nov. 6 regarding Amaral speaking to other women.
Police said Amaral slapped his wife on her left temple, causing her to fall to the floor. The victim said she started to crawl away in an attempt to get away from her husband, at which time he kicked her in the back of the thigh.
Police said the wife claimed Amaral then grabbed her by the hair and began choking her.
According to the arrest report, Amaral kicked his wife in the rib cage as she tried to scoot away from him while she was still on the ground on her back.
"(The) victim turned over onto her right side in pain, and (Amaral) kicked her on her middle back," the arrest report stated.
Police said Amaral then grabbed his wife by the arm, slammed her body into a railing in the home and grabbed her by the neck again before letting her fall to the floor.
The woman told detectives that Amaral then paced back and forth in the room, warning her of his MMA training and experience and telling her he knew how to break all the bones in her body.
"Why shouldn't I kill you?" Amaral allegedly asked his wife.
The victim told police that she and her estranged husband go to therapy together and they last went on Friday.
She claimed the therapist advised her not to call police on her husband but to spend the weekend apart.
Police said the victim did not have any bruises or signs of injury at the time she came into the police station to file a report.
Amaral was arrested on a charge of domestic battery/strangulation.