The father of a fugitive ex-LAPD officer charged with murder has been was indicted by a federal grand jury in Texas on suspicion of lying to investigators.
Victor Solis, 53, is charged with making a false statement to federal agents who were attempting to locate his son, Henry Solis, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in western Texas, which is handling the case. If convicted, Victor Solis, who remains in custody in Texas, faces as long as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, according to prosecutors, Victor Solis told FBI agents that he dropped his son off at an El Paso bus station and crossed alone into Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 14. Surveillance cameras at the border crossing, however, showed him walking into Mexico alongside his fugitive son, prosecutors said according to The Times.
Henry Solis, who was an off-duty probationary officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, is accused of fatally shooting Salome Rodriguez Jr. of Ontario in downtown Pomona during the predawn hours of March 13. After the shooting, he contacted his father, who left his Lancaster home to pick up his son and drive him to El Paso, according to a sworn affidavit quoted by The Times.
The LAPD has since fired the 27-year-old once-promising cop and former Marine, who failed to show up for work a day after the killing. Authorities have launched an international search to locate Solis and the FBI is offering a reward of as much as $25,000 for information leading to his arrest.
—Staff and wire reports