In the New York Penal Code choking another person is referred to as criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation is a class A misdemeanor.Strangulation in the Second Degree, Penal Law Section 121.12, is a class D violent felony in New York. In New York, you are not required to carry. ID, and you don't have to show ID to a police officer. Charged with criminal obstruction of breathing? Call the experienced criminal attorneys of Lebedin Kofman LLP right away. If an officer has "probable cause" to believe that a crime was committed, and that you committed it, they may arrest you. The most painful, traumatic, outrageous, outlandish, over-the-top story of government sanctioned police brutality, wrongful imprisonment, wrongful convictions. Melanie Evans, 35, is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing and acting in a manner injurious to a child for the January 15 incident in the Bronx.