DOE employee charged with putting student in chokehold at Sunset Park school

March 27, 2025 Jaime DeJesus

I.S. 136 Charles O. Dewey in Sunset Park. Image via Google Maps

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SUNSET PARK — A New York City Department of Education employee was arrested after he allegedly attacked a 13-year-old boy at I.S. 136 Charles O. Dewey at 4004 Fourth Ave. on Friday, March 21.

Elvin Ventura, 53, was charged with second-degree strangulation, criminal obstruction, endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree harassment and third-degree assault.

Police sources said Ventura saw that the boy wasn’t wearing his uniform in the school cafeteria. Ventura then allegedly put the teen in a chokehold when he didn’t change his clothing, the Daily News reported.

“This alleged behavior is absolutely unacceptable,” a spokesperson for the DOE said. “This employee has been reassigned away from students pending the outcome of the arrest, and if convicted, we will pursue termination.”