Arizona woman gets 3.5 years prison for driving over non-voting husband

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[May 23, 2015]  By David Schwartz
 
 PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona woman was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on Thursday for running over her husband with the family car because he failed to vote in the 2012 presidential election, court officials said.

Holly Nicole Solomon, 31, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of aggravated assault under a plea agreement with prosecutors over the incident at a parking lot in Gilbert, a southeastern suburb of Phoenix.

Police said Solomon was upset with her husband, Daniel Solomon, in the days following the Nov. 6 re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama and believed the family would face hardship from his winning another term in office.

The 36-year-old man suffered a fractured pelvis from being run over following a wild chase on Nov. 10, 2012, that left him pinned beneath the Jeep.

Solomon was also sentenced to four years of supervised probation by Judge Joseph Kreamer in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, officials said.

"This is just such a tragic case," Solomon's attorney, Todd Nolan, told Reuters, adding that the couple has since divorced. "Both families involved have been devastated."

Police said witnesses told them the couple were arguing in the parking lot before the fight began to escalate.

Solomon then chased her husband around the lot with the car, yelling at him as he tried to hide behind a light pole, police said. He was ultimately struck as he attempted to flee.

Solomon had claimed she was only trying to frighten her husband, but that her foot slipped while on the accelerator, causing her to hit him.

Obama won the 2012 election with 332 electoral college votes, compared with 206 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Arizona's 11 electoral votes were won by Romney.

(Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler)

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