Potential Biological Lab Found in Las Vegas Garage, Property Manager Arrested as More than 1,000 Samples Sent for Testing By Ingrid Vasquez

Over 1,000 samples of potentially hazardous materials were recovered from a Las Vegas home over the weekend.

“Just a little over a week ago, LVMPD 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 during a press conference on Monday, Feb. 2.

As the investigation progressed, it was determined that the home on Sugar Springs Drive was owned by the same individual involved in a prior illegal biolab investigation in Reedley, Calif., in 2023.

That individual is already in federal custody on charges related to the California investigation, according to an LVMPD press release, and has pleaded not guilty, per ABC News.

Police announced the arrest of another suspect, 55-year-old Ori Solomon, the property manager of the location, who was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on disposing of and discharging hazardous waste charges.

He has also been charged with prohibited person in possession of a firearm, per a federal criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE.

A search of the home found that the garage was the “primary location of the potential biological and hazardous materials.”

“Almost immediately, investigators observed multiple refrigerators, a freezer, and other laboratory-type equipment along with numerous bottles and jugs containing unknown liquid substances,” said McMahill. “These items, importantly, were consistent in appearance to the items found and described in the Reedley, Calif. lab investigation.”

Related Stories

Vt. Sheriff Allegedly Stalked Sex Workers After They Stopped Seeing Him. Now Governor Wants Him to Resign

Man Killed ‘Wonderful’ Wife in Drug-Fueled Rage as Children Slept Upstairs. Now He Learns Fate

When one of the refrigerators and freezers were opened, investigators found a “significant volume of material, including various vials and storage containers with liquids of different colors and compositions,” said McMahill, noting that “additional containers were located throughout the garage along with laboratory equipment and other specialized items.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto added that during the initial search of the garage, investigators 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. ”

According to KLAS, citing court documents, a person who lived inside the home reported that the garage was always locked, while another said it was “like a hospital – not like a clean hospital but more of a foul, stale, stagnant air smell.”

The documents also said that several days after entering the garage, two people became “deathly ill,” and they “could not get out of bed,” per KLAS.

“More than a thousand samples were collected, stored safely, and secured safely at the Southern Nevada Health District Laboratory,” Delzotto said. “Early this morning, all samples were carefully loaded into an FBI aircraft for transportation to the National Bioforensic Analysis Center in Maryland.”

McMahill said he wanted to “reassure you that everything has been remediated and there’s no safety concern in the house or the neighborhood.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.     

“We recognize that the public is seeking clarity. What were they testing for? What possibilities are being considered?” Delzotto 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.”