Winter Park developer arrested after backyard confrontation with teen

Seminole County developer Kyle Daniel Riva was arrested at his Winter Park home on June 29 after a backyard confrontation with a teen turned violent. He faces charges of battery by strangulation of a minor, robbery through sudden snatching and criminal mischief after what began as a verbal argument in the backyard.

Deputies said Riva confronted two teens who were walking through his yard, and the encounter escalated after the teens started recording him on their cellphones. Investigators allege Riva grabbed the minor by the neck, restricting breathing and blood flow to the head, then took the phone and threw it into Lake Antigua. The destroyed device was worth about $699. The property-damage count is a first-degree misdemeanor tied to damage between $200 and $1,000.

Riva is not a typical local defendant. He is CEO and president of Alexander Investments International, a commercial real estate firm tied to his long career in development. He has more than 40 years of experience in commercial real estate, including apartments, office buildings, retail centers, industrial properties, hotels, resorts, single-family projects and land. He spent more than 25 years at Epoch Properties and led that company as president for a decade. Riva earned degrees from Florida State University and Rollins College.

Riva is 70. After the arrest, he was taken to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford. He later made his first court appearance Tuesday and was no longer listed in the Seminole County jail.