Assault Charges Dropped Against Passaro

Charges against David Passaro, the former CIA contractor convicted of beating an Afghan detainee who later died, in connection with an alleged assault on his girlfriend have been dismissed, authorities said.

Posted 9:38 p.m. May 14, 2007 — Updated 9:38 p.m. May 14, 2007

LILLINGTON, N.C. — Charges against David Passaro, the former CIA contractor convicted of beating an Afghan detainee who later died, in connection with an alleged assault on his girlfriend have been dismissed, authorities said.

Bonnie Heart said Passaro threw her into a hallway, pushed her into a door and into a glass storm door, causing her to fall down stairs, following a dispute about some phone calls in June 2005. She also said Passaro threw her cell phone and then pulled an earring from her ear as she was leaving in her vehicle.

Passaro was charged with assault on a female, injury to personal property and misdemeanor larceny after the incident.

There was no word on why prosecutors dropped the charges.

Passaro, a former Special Forces soldier who worked as a civilian special operations employee at Fort Bragg, was sentenced to 100 months in prison after being convicted last August of assault in the 2003 death of Abdul Wali.

Wali died in custody after being beaten with a flashlight and kicked during a two-day interrogation at a U.S. base in Afghanistan in June 2003.

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