Officials Drop Charges Against Tenn. Newlywed

(June 22) -- Officials have dismissed all charges against a Chattanooga, Tenn., newlywed who was arrested after rushing his ailing wife to the hospital.

Eric Wright, a 27-year-old trained emergency medic, and his wife, Aline, a registered nurse, were enjoying what was supposed to be their honeymoon at home last week when Aline appeared to be having a stroke.

Knowing he had to get his wife, a cancer survivor with a heart condition, to a hospital as soon as possible, Eric drove her to Erlanger Medical Center, where they both work. He said he stopped at and then ran two red lights en route to the hospital. When a police officer flashed his lights behind their car, Eric said he did not pull over because he knew every minute counted.

At the hospital, Eric said Chattanooga police officer Jim Daves stood in the way as he tried to carry Aline, a left-leg amputee, into the emergency room.

"I remember having to stop. I was trying to explain the situation, but he didn't really stop to listen. He never asked what her condition was," Eric told AOL News on Sunday. "I remember having to step around him to get into the emergency room."

Then, Eric said, the officer repeatedly attempted to enter the room where Aline was being treated.

Two days later, Eric was arrested, charged with assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and a felony count of evading arrest, as well as traffic violations.

According to WATC NewsChannel 9, the officer's affidavit says, "Defendant stopped in the ER entrance and jumped out and ran. Police made contact with defendant at the passenger side of his vehicle, and I grabbed the defendant's arm and he pushed me away, scraping my arm with his fingernail."

Eric has denied those allegations, saying he never had any physical contact with the officer.

Today all of the charges were dropped. Hamilton County District Attorney General William Cox's motion to dismiss said that "sufficient necessity ... existed which would negate any criminal intent on the part of the defendant."

The officer in the case has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending an internal investigation into the matter, according to The Associated Press. A message left by AOL News with the Chattanooga Police Department for comment was not immediately returned.

Eric was also suspended from his job at Erlanger. "It is a matter of routine to suspend an employee once he/she has been charged with a felony offense," the hospital said in a statement.

The hospital decided on Monday to lift Eric's suspension as well as pay him for the day of work he missed.

Eric told AOL News on Sunday that doctors were not able to determine whether his wife had suffered a stroke, but he said she planned to follow up with a neurologist.

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