Mesa wife gets 3.5 years for running over husband after '12 election

A Mesa woman was sentenced Thursday to 3½ years in prison and supervised probation for running over her husband with a Jeep because he didn't vote in the November 2012 presidential election.

Holly Nicole Solomon pleaded guilty in April to two counts of aggravated assault after previously rejecting a plea deal that would have removed the "dangerous" allegation, which gave Solomon the possibility of as many as 15 years in prison.

Solomon was sentenced Thursday morning in Maricopa County Superior Court following a hearing with Judge Joseph Kreamer.

Gilbert police said 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's ex-husband said during Thursday's sentencing hearing that it has been difficult to heal from both his physical and emotional wounds.

"I now have a scar down the center of my abdomen that is at least a foot long," the victim said. "Learning to trust people, to love again is going to be very difficult for me."

Holly Nicole Solomon said during the hearing that the incident was caused by an episode of mental illness, something she said she has been working to treat.

"I want to apologize. I still don't have memories of that day," Solomon said as she cried. "I have been very sick and I am getting better."

Both parties and their attorneys declined to comment on the sentence after the hearing.

Solomon was arrested after police said she 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.

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.

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