SWEETWATER, Fla. – Prosecutors announced during a hearing Wednesday that they have dropped charges against a former Sweetwater police officer accused of assaulting his wife in the parking lot of Dolphin Mall.
Amauris Bastidas was arrested after police said he bit his wife on the lip during a fight on June 6.
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"Obviously, before Thanksgiving I'm very grateful for this decision," said Bastidas. "And I'm hoping to protect and serve my community once again."
Just months before that, Bastidas was named the Sweetwater Police Department's Officer of the Month for helping save a baby on the side of the Dolphin Expressway.
It was Feb. 20 when then 5-month-old Sebastian de la Cruz stopped breathing while riding with his aunt, Pamela Rauseo, who pulled over and started screaming for help.
"It really was the scariest moment of my life," Rauseo told ABC News.
Lucila Godoy was the first to stop and try to help, leaving her own toddler in her car to help the infant.
"We tried to start working as a team at that time," Godoy said.
Miami Herald photographer Al Diaz ran through lanes of traffic to get help.
"I don't know CPR well enough to try to aid with that, so I went to try to look for help in traffic, so I started waving traffic down," Diaz said.
He was able to attract the attention of Bastidas, who took over CPR, performing chest pumps while Rauseo breathed into Sebastian's mouth.
Bastidas and Rauseo kept the baby breathing until rescuers arrived and rushed Sebastian to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Sebastian is now back home and doing fine.
Bastidas said now that he has been cleared of the aggravated battery charge, he will fight to get his job back.
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