The FBI announced a $25,000 reward Friday for help leading to the arrest of a fugitive former LAPD officer wanted in the killing of a 23-year-old Ontario man.
Henry Solis allegedly fled from California to Texas with the help of his father shortly after the fatal downtown Pomona shooting of Salome Rodriguez Jr. early March 13.
A federal arrest warrant charging Solis with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was signed by a U.S. District Court magistrate on Thursday.
Solis was fired from his position as a probationary officer with the Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday, a day after Pomona police said he was a suspect in Rodriguez’s killing. An arrest warrant for Solis was issued by the Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday.
After the killing, Solis’ father drove him about 800 miles to El Paso, Texas, where he told FBI agents he left his son at a bus station and did not know where he had gone, according to an affidavit in support of the warrant signed by FBI Special Agent Scott Garriola of the Fugitive Task Force.
A former U.S. Marine, Solis may be in Texas and has ties to Juarez, Mexico, according to the FBI. Mexican law enforcement was involved in the effort to find Solis as well, Garriola said, calling Texas the primary focus of the search.
“He really needs to turn himself in to the closest law enforcement authorities to put this to an end and stop this,” Garriola said.
A FBI “wanted” flier for Solis said he pursued the victim on foot and shot him multiple times.
Solis may have weapons and should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the FBI.
He was described 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, 185 to 190 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has moles on his right cheek and the top left of his nose, and may have a beard.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts was urged to contact the Pomona Police Department tip line at 909-620-2085, a local FBI office or the or the nearest American embassy or consulate.
The information that Solis’ father, Victor Solis of Lancaster, gave to FBI agents in El Paso will be given to Pomona police, who will decide whether to pursue charges against the older man, Garriola said.
