BURBANK : Groom Accused of Punching His Bride

A Burbank groom accused of spousal abuse was let out of jail Tuesday morning, still wearing the tuxedo in which he was married and then arrested after allegedly punching his bride at their wedding reception.

John Solano, 27, pleaded not guilty to one count of misdemeanor spousal abuse during an arraignment in Burbank Municipal Court and was released on his own recognizance, said Deputy City Atty. Robert Walters. Scheduled for a pretrial hearing Nov. 17, he was ordered to stay away from his wife and faces a maximum penalty of a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted, Walters said.

Solano is accused of hitting Elizabeth Solano, 40, at their wedding reception at the Burbank Holiday Inn last Saturday, said Walters and Burbank Police Lt. Joe Valento. He had just returned from a brief absence when she asked him where he had been and he struck her on the left side of the head, cutting her underneath her ear and getting blood on her white wedding dress, they said.

Solano contends that his wife provoked the incident by slapping him in front of their guests, Walters said. He went to their apartment to calm down, realized he was missing his keys and punched his hand through a window to get inside, Walters said. The blood on his bride’s dress was in fact his own, the prosecutor said.

“He was very, very intoxicated,” Walters said, adding that Solano is on probation for a drunken-driving arrest a month ago.