They described it as drunken horseplay from a newlywed couple with a penchant for slapstick antics.

The bride who was jailed along with her groom after a wedding night brawl said yesterday the melee started when she stuck out her rear end for her husband to kiss during a boisterous argument in a hotel hallway. Instead, the intoxicated groom tapped her backside with his foot, the inebriated bride stepped forward onto her giant wedding gown and fell flat on her face. The groom then dropped four six-packs of bottled beer to the floor.

Hotel guests from a neighboring room thought her husband, David M. Wielechowski, had hurt her and ran to her aid, Christa M. Wielechowski said in the couple's first public statement since they were jailed April 27 on assault, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and criminal mischief charges. She told them she was fine and told them to leave her alone.

The couple and the unknown guests exchanged profanities, and then a man punched her husband in the face, sparking a violent struggle of stomping, kicking, biting, choking and dragging with four to five attackers that ended in the lobby of the Holiday Inn on McKnight Road in Ross.

When questioned about the couple's version of events, Ross police officials said several witnesses corroborated their initial account, that the groom karate-kicked the bride to the floor and a pair of good Samaritans came to her rescue.

"We're not saying we know they're lying. What these people perceived was that she was in distress," said Sgt. William Barrett of the Ross police.

"Sometimes we have to apply some common sense. Why would [the guests] attack these people? I think they were trying to help a woman who was struck. It wasn't like they were in an alley and they ran into some thugs. They were in a nice hotel with decent, upstanding people," he said.

He said officers did not interview the newlyweds at the scene because they were drunk and "they couldn't get much that made sense out of them."

The Wielechowskis said yesterday they had yet to be interviewed, to which Sgt. Barrett later responded, "If they want to talk we're open 24 hours a day."

Mrs. Wielechowski, 25, who patted her husband's arm and gripped his hand during a media interview at WPXI-TV, said she would not tolerate physical abuse from her husband.

"I would not stand for that," she said. "If he had ever laid his hands on me, I would not be sitting here at this moment."

She works as an assistant at his dental practice, which he has not returned to since the incident.

"I'm a very gentle person," said Dr. Wielechowski, 32, who had the remnants of a black eye, a bruised eyeball and was wearing a cast on the ankle he sprained in the fight. He apologized to his family, friends and patients for "the very unfortunate incident" that turned his wedding night upside down.

Mrs. Wielechowski said her 4-year-old son knows nothing about the widely publicized incident. The boy returned to school after the boy's father confirmed that -- despite a rumor -- parents had not circulated a petition complaining about negative impact the brawl might have on classmates.

The couple's preliminary hearing is set for May 28 before District Judge Richard G. Opiela in West View.