ARLINGTON, Va. - Two police officers broke down a door and saved a woman whose husband had tied her to the bed and was strangling her, Arlington County police said.

Officers arrived at the couple's home in the 1900 block of N. Culpeper Street about 3:50 a.m. Monday, Jan. 5, for the report of a domestic disturbance. Investigators believe the victim, Oliviara Sorto, 24, managed to call 911 during an altercation with her husband, Juvenal Flores-Nava, 28.

Flores-Nava apparently figured out what she was doing and assaulted her, tying her hands behind her back, police said. She was defenseless as he fashioned a noose and began to tighten it around her neck, she said. 

Oliviara Sorto recounts her ordeal for ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 reporter Stephen Tschida.

"He had me tied up around the neck," Sorto said through a translator. "We had problems, yes, me and my husband, we had problems."

The officers heard what they said was a woman in distress and forced their way into the locked bedroom. They found Flores-Nava strangling Sorto, police said. They had arrived just in time to save her life.

"It was fortunate that the police arrived at her apartment at that time period and decided to force down the door," Arlington County police spokeswoman Detective Crystal Nosal said.

EMTs treated her and took her to the hospital.

Sorto, who speaks little to no English, is confused and frightened. While she is far from where she grew up, she does have relatives in the metro area. She is turning to them for support and to help her heal physically and emotionally.

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