Light rail stabbing suspect had prior arrests in New Jersey, Florida, feds say
The suspect in a stabbing on Charlotte’s light rail that happened last week had prior charges in New Jersey and Florida, and he had been convicted of robbery twice, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Oscar Solarzano now faces charges including attempted first-degree murder after police say he stabbed Kenyon Dobie on Charlotte’s light rail train on Friday afternoon. The two got into an argument after Solarzano was yelling on the train, which he had already been banned from riding, a prosecutor said in court yesterday.
Earlier this year, police charged DeCarlos Brown Jr. with stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on the same light rail. Her killing sparked national outrage.
Solarzano is an undocumented immigrant who was deported from the country in 2018 and 2021, according to court records and the Department of Homeland Security. He’s been charged before outside of North Carolina, DHS said:
- In March 2009, the Passaic Police Department in New Jersey charged him with simple assault and resisting arrest.
- In March 2012, the Union City Police Department in New Jersey charged him with robbery that inflicted bodily injury. That charge led to a conviction in Hudson County Drug Court the next year, according to DHS.
- In July 2016, Florida’s Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office charged him with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and destroying evidence.
- In February 2017, the same sheriff’s office in Florida charged him with resisting an officer, giving false identification to an officer, being a fugitive and loitering or prowling.
DHS said that he was resentenced for robbery in 2017 by the Hudson County Superior Court, and spent three years in prison.
Before his arrest in Charlotte last week, Solarzano had never been booked into the Mecklenburg County jail, sheriff’s office staff told reporters at a Monday press conference.
Solarzano was also previously involved in the justice system in Mecklenburg County. He was charged in a misdemeanor citation on Oct. 8 with having a large knife on a light rail platform, but not jailed, and did not appear in court for hearings.
In 2012, a drunk Solarzano — listed as Solozano by New Jersey news media at the time — reportedly “ran behind a 52-year-old woman and grabbed for her purse” before that woman’s legally blind sister struggled with him and pushed him to the ground.
Police caught him after a witness pointed him out, news outlets reported at the time.
The Charlotte Observer has filed requests for more of Solarzano’s past arrest reports.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published December 9, 2025 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Light rail stabbing suspect had prior arrests in New Jersey, Florida, feds say."