Federal and state authorities who raided a Las Vegas home over the weekend have safely recovered more than 1,000 bags and containers brimming with hazardous biological materials and liquids — and now, two men are facing serious criminal charges.
The arrest of Ori Solomon, 55, was announced during a press conference on Monday, February 2. He was charged with disposing of and discharging hazardous waste and prohibited person in possession of a firearm, according to a federal criminal complaint.
It was unclear if Solomon had entered pleas to the charges or had a lawyer who could address the allegations for him, given he remains in federal custody.
“Just a little over a week ago, [the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department] received limited information indicating that laboratory equipment and potentially hazardous materials were being stored at a residence in the northeast part of our town,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at the press conference, while showing video footage of detectives in biohazard suits sifting through the home on Sugar Springs Drive.
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Police described Solomon as the home’s property manager.
Investigators learned that the house was owned by Jia Bei Zhu, who is better known as David He. The Chinese national is already in federal prison awaiting trial for maintaining an illegal biolaboratory from a Reedley, California, house in 2023.
He has entered not guilty pleas to those unspecified charges, according to local reports.
While searching the Las Vegas home on Saturday, January 31, police discovered that the garage was the “primary location of the potential biological and hazardous materials.”
After entering the garage, “investigators observed multiple refrigerators, a freezer, and other laboratory-type equipment along with numerous bottles and jugs containing unknown liquid substances,” McMahill said.
“These items, importantly, were consistent in appearance to the items found and described in the Reedley, California, lab investigation,” he added.
Inside the first opened refrigerator was a “significant volume of material, including various vials and storage containers with liquids of different colors and compositions,” explained McMahill, adding that more “containers were located throughout the garage along with laboratory equipment and other specialized items.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto said agents also identified a “biosafety hood, a biosafety sticker, a centrifuge, multiple refrigerators, red-brown unknown liquids in gallon-sized containers, and refrigerated vials with unknown liquids. ”
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“More than a thousand samples were collected, stored safely, and secured safely at the Southern Nevada Health District Laboratory,” Delzotto told reporters. “Early this morning, all samples were carefully loaded into an FBI aircraft for transportation to the National Bioforensic Analysis Center in Maryland.”
Delzotto said the FBI wanted to “reassure you that everything has been remediated and there’s no safety concern in the house or the neighborhood,” but could not discuss what investigators expect to find from the testing.
“We recognize that the public is seeking clarity. What were they testing for? What possibilities are being considered?” he said. “However, as the sheriff mentioned in cases like this, our process relies on being slow and methodical, from the collection of evidence to the testing of the samples.”
