Mesa woman guilty of running over husband after '12 election

A Mesa woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of aggravated assault after running over her husband with a Jeep because he didn't vote in the November 2012 presidential election, police said.

Holly Nicole Solomon originally rejected a plea deal that would have removed a "dangerous" allegation that stiffens the punishment for a conviction for aggravated assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The plea agreement reached Tuesday includes the stipulation that Solomon spend 3½ years in prison followed by a term of probation, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. Jesse Sanger said Holly Solomon started arguing with her husband on Nov. 10, 2012 when she found out that he didn't vote because she "believed her family was going to face hardship" as a result of Obama's re-election. The argument escalated once her husband pulled over their Jeep and got out in a parking lot on Gilbert Road near Vaughn Avenue.

Solomon chased her husband through the parking lot with the Jeep, circled him as he took refuge behind a light pole and eventually struck him as he tried to flee, police said.

She struck him as he tried to run toward the road, pinning him between the SUV's underside and a curb, police said.

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.

Daniel Solomon, Holly's husband, was in critical condition after the dispute and suffered a fractured pelvis.

Holly Solomon rejected a plea deal in 2013 that left her facing a prison sentence of between two and nine years in prison, her attorney said at the time.

Solomon rejected the plea offer because it called for a prison term and she wants to tell her side of the story in court, her attorney said in 2013.

Holly Solomon will be sentenced on May 21 by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer.