“He’s an actor on Broadway. I broke up with him in December...

“He’s an actor on Broadway.  I broke up with him in December because he couldn’t manage his anger.  He’d scream at me on subway platforms.  Once he busted my lip while trying to grab something out of my hand.  That was when I finally ended it.  But he called me on New Year’s Eve and asked if he could go to a party with me.  We’d bought our tickets months earlier.  They were expensive so I agreed.  My sister was coming with us so I wasn’t worried.  Everyone had a great time.  …At the end of the night, we dropped off my sister and went back to his place.  I was so drunk that I curled up in a pile of clothes.  When I opened my eyes he was taking photos of me and laughing.  I immediately decided to leave.  It was literally the start of a new year and I wanted to begin on a good note.  He yelled at me to come back but I kept walking.  He followed me down the stairs and grabbed my arm.  He told me to ‘stop acting stupid.’  Then he pinned me up against the side of his building.  He was choking me and saying ‘calm down, calm down, calm down.’  A van drove by and started honking at us.  But they didn’t stop.  They didn’t help me.  I broke free and ran into traffic but nobody was stopping.  He caught me, and pushed me up against a van, and lifted me into the air by the neck.  When I woke up on the ground he was gone.  I asked the judge to sentence him to anger management courses.  He’s finished them.  But I’m still dealing with the trauma of that night.”