California man federally charged in assault of agents at Dallas Love Field
A California man is accused of assaulting Transportation Security Administration officers at Dallas Love Field Airport earlier this month, federal attorneys said in a statement.
33-year-old Idress Vinay Solomon of Oakland, California, allegedly attempted to pass through a security checkpoint without appropriate identification, according to the statement. Solomon was ticketed to travel on a Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland.
When a TSA agent directed Solomon to another lane so agents could try to identify him using a different method, he became verbally disruptive and aggressive, federal attorneys said.
After the agent called for a supervisor to handle Solomon’s escalating behavior, Solomon allegedly punched the agent in the back of the neck, officials said. When officers with the Dallas Police Department responded to help TSA agents with the disturbance, Solomon began punching one of the officers.
That officer sustained an orbital blowout fracture to his left eye and had to seek treatment from an ophthalmologist at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital, according to the statement.
Solomon allegedly continued punching other TSA officers until Dallas police were able to subdue him, officials said. Even then, he continued spitting on and trying to pull away from officers as he was arrested.
Solomon faces charges of forcibly assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison, according to the statement.
