Robbery suspect was second man shot by cop

Keith Paul

Monday, Sept. 10, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

A Metro Police officer who shot a robbery suspect last week also had shot and wounded a man last year.

Officer Samuel Solorio, 24, shot 26-year-old Roy Philson once in the arm about 1:50 a.m. Thursday after, police allege, Philson pointed a gun at the officer. Philson, who was treated for a gunshot wound in the arm and booked into the Clark County jail on robbery and other charges, was the second person Solorio has shot in three years with Metro.

Philson is charged with robbing a Jack-In-The-Box restaurant in the 4300 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North near Nellis Boulevard. His wife, Tracey Philson, who was working at the restaurant at the time, faces charges of helping him.

Police said Solorio saw Roy Philson run from the store with a gun and that Philson fired a shot at Solorio as Solorio pursued him in his police car. The shot hit the driver's door, police said.

Solorio pinned Philson against a sign in the rear of the restaurant with the police car, and police say, Philson then raised his gun. Solorio fired a shot through the windshield, hitting Philson in the arm, police say.

Capt. Dennis Cobb said the area of the city and the overnight shift Solorio works provides a greater likelihood that an officer will face an armed person.

"On graveyard (shift), we have the fewest number of officers, so the chances that any one officer will be called to face an armed suspect are higher," he said.

Cobb said Solorio did not put himself into a situation where he would be forced to fire, but the circumstances presented themselves in both incidents.

On March 18, 2000, Solorio and Officer Michael Maloof shot 18-year-old Roy Palmer several times after spotting him at an apartment complex with a gun.

Solorio and Maloof were called to the apartment in the 5800 block of Meikle Lane, near Nellis Boulevard and Owens Avenue, on the report of a man with a gun arguing with a woman in the parking lot.

Palmer was shot in the chest, right thigh, calf and foot after police say he didn't follow orders to put the gun down. He was charged with pointing the gun at the officers.

Solorio and Maloof were both cleared of any wrongdoing by the department's use-of-force board in that shooting.