Gilroy police are asking the public for help in locating an armed felon who is on the lam as of Sunday night.
Angel Solorzano, 23 of Gilroy, is wanted for a parole violation and has a $1 million warrant for a firearm violation.
Police, who last made contact with Solorzano on Sunday at 12:35 p.m. on Hanna Street and Gurries Drive, say he is armed and a “significant public safety concern,” according to Gilroy Police Sgt. Chad Gallacinao.
Incidentally, police made contact with a man on Hanna Street and Gurries Drive at 12:35 p.m. on Sunday, who had a stolen Magnum revolver in his backpack and a plastic bindle containing a white crystallized substance. The suspect fled the scene and remains at large.
When asked about the link to excact time and location of Solorzano’s last contact with police, Gallacinao would not confirm whether that suspect is Solorzano since no arrest was made on Sunday.
GPD is actively pursuing all viable leads to his whereabouts. The public may use the We Tip service or report his whereabouts to GPD Communications (846-0350).
“We are putting out this info because we are concerned with public safety that an armed felon is in the Gilroy community. We are currently investigating leads to his whereabouts. We are asking that they do not contact him and instead call the police department so we can take him into custody,” Gallacinao said.
Solorzano is tied to the murder of Larry Martinez, Jr., who was gunned down in broad daylight in 2008 in Gilroy by a rival gang member. Solorzano was friends with Martinez, but was charged along with two other of his friends with murder by the District Attorney’s Office under a little-used and controversial “provocative act murder theory.” It allows the DA’s Office to charge someone with murder if they were involved in a crime that eventually led to someone’s killing. In this case, prosecutors argued that because the three attempted to confront a rival, Sureno gang member, their actions led to Martinez’s death.
Solorzano, however, agreed to lesser charges of conspiracy to commit an assault with a deadly weapon after prosecutors decided they couldn’t prove their actions were responsible for the death of their friend, said Deputy District Attorney Frank Carrubba, who prosecuted the case.
He and two others were sentenced to three years in prison in July 2011 but were released because it was determined they had served their terms while in custody, Carrubba said.
