Arash Hashemi appears in Clark County Justice Court on Monday to face charges of child abuse. Photos by Craig L. Moran. The charges were dismissed, but law enforcement took Hashemi, above fourth from left, into custody immediately after the hearing at the Regional Justice Center.

Arash Hashemi's status as a free man changed during the course of one elevator ride.

On Monday, prosecutors at a hearing on the eighth-floor of the Regional Justice Center voluntarily withdrew child abuse charges against Hashemi, 35, saying they weren't prepared to proceed immediately.

The charges had been filed after police investigated the serious head trauma sustained by a 3-year-old girl whose injuries required emergency surgery. The child is the daughter of German national Samaneh Rezaei, who also was charged with the abuse that occurred in August.

"We do plan to seek an indictment," prosecutor Vicki Monroe said, putting Hashemi and defense attorney Bill Terry on notice that the case may still go before the grand jury.

But neither Hashemi nor Terry were prepared for how quickly law enforcement would take action. As soon as Hashemi left the courtroom and headed to the elevators late Monday afternoon, he was flanked by two Las Vegas police officers who took him into custody over Terry's strong objections.

"He is represented by counsel and he cannot and will not answer your questions," Terry said to police and prosecutor Thomas Moreo after they reached the ground floor.

Terry chastised Moreo for not informing him that police were waiting for his client.

"You were aware of this. I wasn't," Terry said to Moreo. "You could have told me. I would have brought him in."

Moreo said that Hashemi had been served with a search warrant, but he declined to be specific.

Doctors who examined the small girl documented teeth marks on her body, one on the heel of a foot, another on her inner thigh. When asked whether the search warrant was to obtain DNA samples from Hashemi, Moreo declined to answer and walked away.

Police escorted Hashemi to a patrol car. Terry followed, repeatedly telling Hashemi to say nothing. Terry declined to take questions from reporters.

Rezaei's status was not clarified by prosecutors on Monday. Prosecutors have fought to keep her from being deported before standing trial on the abuse charges.

In interviews with police, Rezaei said she met Hashemi through the Internet about a year ago. He visited her in Germany, and during the summer, she and her daughter visited him.

On Aug. 25, Hashemi and a hysterical Rezaei went to the emergency entrance of Summerlin Hospital with the girl, who appeared to be unresponsive. Before transporting the girl to Sunrise Children's Hospital, emergency room doctors noted extensive bruising all over the body in addition to the head trauma. The mother initially told police the injuries were sustained in a fall down a set of stairs. However, medical experts told police that the child's injuries were not consistent with a fall.

The catalog of injuries to the small girl also included a poorly healed broken arm, thumb-print-type bruises on her face and forehead, injury to her tongue and a recently shaved head. The Aug. 25 incident occurred while Child Protective Services had an earlier abuse and neglect case open on the victim.

Three witnesses told investigators that Hashemi had caused several injuries to the victim's face and body.

"During the time frame of 8/21/06 to 8/25/06, Arash Hashemi unlawfully perpetrated willful and abusive force and trauma on the person of (the victim), causing her to sustain near fatal head trauma," police said in their first arrest warrant for Hashemi.