Honduran suspect in light rail stabbing denied bond; ICE issues detainer

CHARLOTTE — Judge Keith Smith ordered Oscar Solarzano, 33, who had multiple deportations, to remain in jail without bond on Monday after he was accused of stabbing a 24-year-old brewery employee in the chest Friday on the Charlotte light rail near NoDa.

According to the DA’s office, Solarzano was drinking alcohol on the light rail when he started yelling at passengers. The victim, Kenyon Dobie, told him to stop and leave everyone alone.

The DA’s office said Solarzano drank more, walked to the victim and started yelling at him. The victim told him to back away and he wouldn’t.

“Fearing for his safety,” the DA’s office says the victim pushed Solarzano and he fell over a seat. When he got up, the DA’s office says Solarzano pulled out a large knife. The victim backed up and tried to get away from him, but Solarzano stabbed him in the chest, the DA’s office said.

The suspect fled when the train came to a stop at the next station near North Brevard Street and East 22nd Street near the 25th Street Station. When police found him, Solarzano had slurred speech, red eyes and alcohol breath. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said he admitted to everything.

The suspect and victim didn’t know each other, according to court documents. The victim is being treated at a hospital with serious injuries.

The victim is an employee at the popular Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in southwest Charlotte.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the incident that occurred last Friday,” the business announced. “We are relieved to know that Kenyon is in stable condition and on the path to recovery. Kenyon is a highly valued member of the OMB culinary team, and our thoughts are with him and his family during this difficult time. We look forward to welcoming him back when he is ready.”

In court, Channel 9’s Joe Bruno learned Solarzano, who is from Honduras, was already banned from the Charlotte Area Transit System before this incident.

Solarzano’s public defender declined to make a comment in court when ADA Carly Amatuzzo moved for no bond. Solarzano was ordered to not contact the victim.

In the country illegally

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Solarzano was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2018 and removed on March 9, 2018. ICE said he was apprehended for illegally crossing the border again in 2021 and was again removed. ICE said Solarzano entered the country illegally for a third time at an unknown date and location.

Solarzano is currently inside the Mecklenburg County Jail. ICE has lodged a detainer. ICE told Channel 9 that Solarzano will remain in jail until he faces his local charges first. If he is granted bail or another form of pretrial release, ICE will take him into custody.

ICE says Solarzano’s prior arrests are for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, using a false ID, and convictions for robbery and illegally re-entry. These crimes do appear to have happened in North Carolina.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Mecklenburg County has a history of not cooperating with ICE.

However, Sheriff Garry McFadden called it all concerning.

“When anyone is stabbed in my city, hurt, shot, killed, yes I’m concerned,” McFadden said Monday. “I have to be concerned because it’s in the city that I’m apart of. We are concerned about it. We also need to be honest about the immigration part of it. We want to blame the sheriff. Well, you deported this person twice. Does that really work?”

Border Patrol agents were recently in Charlotte and said they were going after the worst of the worst.

Channel 9 asked them and DHS if Solarzano was on their list at the time and with his criminal history, why wasn’t he picked up when they were here.

We haven’t gotten an answer.

No security on board; passenger describes knife attack

Multiple sources and a witness tell Hunter Sáenz and Joe Bruno that security was not on board the light rail at the time of the attack.

A witness who was on board told Bruno on Monday that security got off the light rail prior to the suspect getting on. The witness believes if security was on board the same time as the suspect, then the suspect’s disruptive behavior would have been addressed.

Leslie Hunter was on the train and he saw it all happen.

“The victim was just trying to, he had his headphones on, trying to mind his business, but, the suspect just kept going at everybody screaming, murder gang, murder gang,” Hunter said.

He said Solarzano was drunk and nonsensical harassing everyone on board the light rail. Multiple people, including the stabbing victim, told him to stop.

Solarzano approached the victim and Hunter knew something was about to go down, which was when the knife attack happened.

“He pulled out the knife. It had a red sheath,” he said. “It’s like he unsheathed it and swung at him in the same motion. So, boom, right there. He pulled back. Victim like this … started walking back to the end of the train.”

Hunter said the scene was gruesome and the victim went in and out of consciousness.

“I saw he was holding his phone, and he dropped it and (he) went limp,” he said.

After the stabbing, Solarzano started to panic and asked passengers to hold his knife. He got off the train, which was when he was arrested.

Hunter said he thinks if security was on the train, they would have prevented the assault.

“He probably wouldn’t even taken it that far,” Hunter said. “He probably wouldn’t even got that loud. He would have been visibly drinking; they would have tightened that up for sure.”

Iryna’s Law to slow down jail operations, sheriff says

More inmates expected under Iryna’s Law, sheriff says

The attack comes just four months after the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. DeCarlos Brown is accused of stabbing the gir unprovoked. In response, lawmakers passed Iryna’s Law, which is meant to keep repeat violent offenders in jail.

Sheriff McFadden said Iryna’s Law will dramatically slow things down at his jail because the number of inmates will increase.

His facility has already seen an 18% increase in booking numbers from the same time last year.

“This law will cause our detention numbers to rise,” McFadden said. “We will have more people staying at a longer stay than normal.”

McFadden said the time to process an inmate has already gotten longer.

He also said magistrates the judicial officials who set initial conditions of release are at times scared to do their jobs.

Another light rail stabbing getting national attention

Friday’s stabbing is getting attention at the national level, once again. On Saturday, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, saying “another stabbing by an illegal migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. What’s going on in Charlotte?” He also posted about Zarutska’s death when it happened.

Charlotte’s Mayor Vi Lyles reacted to the incident on X.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and the Republican National Committee also weighed in.

VIDEO: Arrest made after man stabbed in chest on light rail train

Arrest made after man stabbed in chest on light rail train

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