Arizona woman accused of running over husband for not voting rejects plea offer
8/16/2013PHOENIX — An Arizona woman accused of running over her husband with an SUV because he didn’t vote in November’s presidential election is headed for trial after she rejected a plea offer from prosecutors today.
Authorities say 29-year-old Holly Nicole Solomon of Mesa was upset about President Barack Obama’s re-election and began arguing with her husband on Nov. 10 when she found out that he didn’t vote.
Daniel Solomon, who suffered a fractured pelvis in the dispute, told investigators that his wife believed their family was going to face hardship as a result of Obama’s election to a second term.
Holly Solomon is scheduled for trial Oct. 30 in Maricopa County Superior Court. She is charged with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct.
If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.
Under the proposed plea offer, Holly Solomon could have faced a prison sentence of between two and nearly nine years in prison, her lawyer said.
Defense attorney Todd Nolan said his client rejected the plea offer because it called for a prison term and because she wants to tell her side of the story in court.
The plea offer by prosecutors would have removed a “dangerous” allegation that stiffens the punishment for a conviction for aggravated assault, Nolan said.
Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the County Attorney’s Office, confirmed that Holly Solomon would have faced a maximum prison sentence of just under nine years, plus probation, had she accepted the deal.
Police say the argument between Solomon and her husband escalated once her husband pulled over their SUV and got out in a parking lot in Gilbert.
They say Holly Solomon chased her husband through the parking lot with their SUV, circled him as he took refuge behind a light pole and eventually struck him as he tried to flee.
She struck him as he tried to run toward the road, pinning him between the SUV’s underside and a curb, police said.
Holly Solomon told police that she was trying to scare her husband by stopping the vehicle close to him but she accidentally stepped on the accelerator and struck him.