Ex-LAPD officer wanted in slaying deported to U.S. from Mexico

Associated Press

Published Tuesday, May 26, 2015 | 9:59 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, May 27, 2015 | 12:09 a.m.

MEXICO CITY — A fugitive former Los Angeles police officer charged with killing a man during an off-duty fight has been deported back to the U.S. after his arrest in northern Mexico, authorities said.

Shortly after his arrest Tuesday in Ciudad Juarez, Henry Solis, 27, was deported to El Paso, Texas, where he'll be detained for now, said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles. The FBI did not give further information on the next legal steps for Solis, but Eimiller said more would be revealed Wednesday.

Solis was captured by security forces in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, the Chihuahua state attorney general's office said. The arrest was made thanks to an exchange of information with U.S. authorities and intelligence work, it said.

The office had said Solis would be "put at the disposition of Mexico's migration office so that he can be handed over to the appropriate authorities."

Solis, who was a rookie LAPD officer, is wanted in the shooting death of Salome Rodriguez, 23, outside a nightclub in Pomona, California, on March 13. Investigators said the two had gotten into a dispute in the club.

Rodriguez's family and friends held a prayer vigil in the parking lot Tuesday night after hearing Solis was in custody.

"We're happy. We're happy that he was caught," his mother, Lidia Rodriguez, said through tears.

Solis' father has been arrested and charged in a federal court in El Paso with making false statements to FBI agents to help his son escape to Mexico.

According to an affidavit from an FBI agent, on the day of the killing, Henry Solis called his father's home and a short time later the elder Solis left in a hurry.

In an FBI interview, Victor Solis said his son claimed to have five days of vacation and wanted to go to El Paso.

The elder Solis said he drove his son to El Paso, where he dropped him at a bus station early on March 14 and didn't see him again.

Victor Solis also claimed he later crossed the border into Mexico alone but surveillance video captured him crossing with his son, according to the affidavit.

A $25,000 reward had been offered for information leading to the arrest of Henry Solis.