Ex-LAPD officer accused in Pomona killing extradited to California

An ex-Los Angeles police officer accused of shooting a man outside a Pomona bar has been brought back to California from Texas to face a murder charge, officials confirmed Thursday.

Henry Solis, 27, was booked in the Pomona city jail Thursday afternoon after the extradition went “without any issues,” Pomona police Deputy Chief Michael Olivieri wrote on Twitter. Solis was moved from El Paso, Texas, where he had been held for a little over a week.

Lt. Hector Rodriguez said Solis would be turned over to the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Friday morning. Solis could be arraigned as early as that day, Rodriguez said.

Solis was apprehended in Mexico on May 26, ending a two-month manhunt that began after the fatal shooting of Salome Rodriguez Jr., 23. Authorities allege that Solis chased Rodriguez and shot him after a fight in a Pomona bar during the early morning hours of March 13.

The former cop has been charged with murder and assault with a firearm in connection with Rodriguez’s death, according to a felony complaint Los Angeles County prosecutors filed for his extradition from Texas.

Solis was deported to Texas after Mexican authorities arrested him in Juarez, a city in Chihuahua state just across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

An FBI agent working the case said Solis was lying low in the border city -- he grew a beard, stayed indoors and avoided using cellphones or social media. His aunts, uncles and cousins helped move him from house to house, the agent said.

Authorities said they focused their search on parts of Mexico where Solis had relatives, but have not revealed what specific information led them to the fugitive ex-cop. Chihuahua officials said Solis told authorities he knew his capture was coming “sooner or later.”

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck fired Solis after he was named a suspect in the shooting.

Solis, a former Marine, had spent only nine months with the LAPD before investigators allege he shot the 23-year-old truck driver multiple times. Solis was off duty at the time.

The rookie officer didn’t show up for work the next day, LAPD officials said. That night, Pomona police publicly identified him as a person of interest in the killing, circulating a flier with his photo and information about his missing car.

Authorities allege that Solis ditched the Volkswagen Jetta not far from the scene and called his father for help. According to court records, Victor Solis told investigators that he then drove with his son 800 miles to El Paso, where he dropped the younger Solis off at a bus stop.

However, authorities said surveillance video showed Victor Solis walking with his son across the border into Mexico. The father was later arrested and charged with lying to federal investigators in an attempt to help hide his son.

Victor Solis was expected to appear in a federal courtroom in Texas on Thursday.

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