Holmes Beach police arrested Pinellas Park resident Christopher Rivera, 31, July 18 for alleged child abuse and domestic assault.
Rivera faces four third-degree felony charges: child abuse, aggravated domestic assault, domestic battery by strangulation and defrauding an innkeeper.
Two officers were dispatched around 9:30 p.m. to the Waterline Villas & Marina, 5325 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, in response to potential fraud and guests who refused to leave their room.
A manager told police that Rivera and family had stayed in a room for five days but hadn’t paid $3,658.26 for the stay since multiple charges to a credit card they provided had failed.
The officers found the family in the parking lot, where Rivera was irritable and “rough” with children, according to a report.
Another child approached an officer and said that Rivera had grabbed a knife during a July 14 fight with his wife.
An officer spoke to Rivera’s wife, who said the incident stemmed from an argument about how rough he was with children.
She told police Rivera became aggressive, so she locked herself in a room to get away from him, until she heard him begin to abuse a child.
She opened the door to confront Rivera, who “threatened to kill her and himself if she left him,” and started choking her.
She said she locked herself and their children in a room for the rest of the night.
The officers spoke with the juveniles and three of them described either witnessing or suffering abuse.
The officers arrested Rivera and transported him to the Manatee County jail, where he remained in custody as of July 26 under $151,500 bond.
If convicted, punishment for a third-degree felony charge includes up to five years in prison, five years of probation and a fine of up to $5,000.
An arraignment will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.