The Crown has withdrawn a manslaughter charge against the driver who ran over a man to save a woman who was allegedly being attacked. Anthony Kiss ran down Dario Romero with his car on June 7 when he saw Alicia Aquino being attacked with a knife at Black Creek Dr. and Eglinton Ave. W. Romero, 37, died at the scene.

The Crown has dropped a manslaughter charge against Anthony James Kiss. ( Bernard Weil / Toronto Star file photo )

Kiss, 31, fled before he was arrested on his way to his Wasaga Beach home. He was charged with manslaughter, impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death, over 80 mgs operation of a motor vehicle causing death and failure to stop at the scene of accident causing death. The incident prompted public debate on whether Kiss acted appropriately, while his blood alcohol level and the fact he fled the scene added layers of complication to the case.

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It also brought tearful gratitude from Aquino who said Kiss saved her life.

Alicia Aquino (seen here in July) said Anthony Kiss saved her when she was attacked at a bus stop in June. ( Steve Russell/Toronto Star )

The Crown withdrew the manslaughter charge in court on Tuesday. Michael Lacy, a lawyer for Kiss, told the Star that the Crown will put forward new charges to the court on Nov. 21, which will exclude the manslaughter charge, remove the "causing death" element from the other charges, and add a dangerous driving charge. Kiss's maximum penalty with the new charges would be six months in jail, whereas he could have faced a life sentence under the prior charges, Lacy said. "We support the decision that the Crown came to (Tuesday), our client has always maintained that he acted in lawful self-defence of someone else," Lacy said in an interview. "Someone tragically lost their life here. This has been weighing on our client pretty significantly, and we're glad to see that the Crown didn't persist in prosecuting this case in light of the facts and the legal context."

Michelle Adams, Kiss's girlfriend who was with him in the car in June, said the withdrawal of the charge is "definitely relieving for our family."

Dario Romero was struck and killed in the early hours of June 7 in west-end Toronto. ( Family photo )

A friend of Aquino's family said they were "ecstatic" and that it gives them "peace of mind."

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Kiss declined to comment when reached Tuesday by the Star. The Crown couldn't be reached for comment. In an interview with the Star in July, Aquino alleged that Romero, who she had never seen before, pulled out a knife and tried to slash at her while she was waiting at a bus stop. The 59-year-old Aquino ran into the street and reached the median, realizing soon after that a car had hit Romero. Aquino said Kiss "put his family on the side to save me." She said she yelled "You're my angel, you saved me!" at his car as Kiss drove away. Kiss defended his actions in an earlier interview with the Star. "I didn't want death, that's why I was trying to do this, do what I did, to prevent death," Kiss said at the time. Romero's family said he was a wonderful father to a young son, and that he had been diagnosed with extreme paranoia.