Several fall 'deathly ill' from suspected Las Vegas bio lab

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Several people became sick from an alleged bio lab running out of a Las Vegas home that also served as an Airbnb, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators at Nexstar’s KLAS obtained Tuesday.

Metro police and the FBI searched the Sunrise Manor home on Saturday, Jan. 31, finding a “possible biological laboratory,” including “refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids,” police said.

Ori Solomon, 55, faces a felony charge of disposing or discharging hazardous waste, according to state court records, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. Late Monday, federal prosecutors filed paperwork to charge Solomon on a gun charge.

An LLC tied to the home’s county records matches the name of a company that is part of an ongoing federal case in California involving a biological laboratory there, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported Sunday.

In that case, a Chinese citizen with potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party, David He, faces federal charges for allegedly manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices at a warehouse in Reedley, California, according to federal prosecutors.

In early January, the FBI received a tip about lab equipment and medical waste at the Las Vegas home consistent with the bio lab in California, documents said. The tipster said Solomon contacted a house cleaner to clean the home, which is also a short-term rental.

During a news conference on Monday, Metro police and the FBI shared video from the garage, showing officers seizing vials of liquid and rummaging through refrigerators.

Another person inside the home reported the garage was always locked, documents said. A person also reported to investigators that the garage contained three refrigerators and that the room smelled “like a hospital – not like a clean hospital but more of a foul, stale, stagnant air smell.”

Several days after entering the garage, two people became “deathly ill,” and they “could not get out of bed,” documents said. A tipster also told police the house contained “many dead crickets” and several people had gotten sick.

On Jan. 9, the FBI contacted a person at the Southern Nevada Health District about a facility in Las Vegas “where medical equipment was allegedly stored but was never found,” documents said. The investigation led SNHD to find a possible connection between the equipment and the California bio lab.

He’s wife, Zhaoyan Wang, left the United States for China amid the federal prosecution of her husband, documents said. However, police suspect Wang has access to cameras monitoring the Las Vegas home.

He has remained in federal custody since his arrest. In January, he contacted Solomon 467 times and his wife 3,524 times. According to investigators, He instructed Solomon to manage his properties and transfer money to him while awaiting trial.

In the California case, investigators located “pathogen-labeled containers” with labels such as “dengue fever,” “HIV,” and “malaria” along with 1,000 mice, according to a federal report.

Police detained Solomon after the Las Vegas raid, charging him with violating hazardous waste laws. The charge is connected to the improper storage and disposal of hydrochloric acid.

Solomon, who prosecutors said was in the United States on a non-immigrant visa, “knowingly possessed” several firearms, including rifles and handguns, documents said. Solomon’s immigration status prevents him from owning any firearm.

State and county records identify Solomon’s last name as Solomon, while federal prosecutors also refer to him as “Solamon.”

Solomon, whose records indicate he has lived in Clark County for decades, remained detained as of Tuesday evening. He made a brief appearance in federal court on Tuesday, where a judge delayed his initial proceedings until Friday.

Samples from the Las Vegas home were undergoing testing.

More charges against Solomon are likely. It was unclear on Tuesday if the property served as an actual Airbnb or a generic short-term rental. Neither an attorney for He nor a representative for Airbnb returned a request for comment.