Official: Kidnapping suspect slips out of court-ordered ankle monitor

Robert Solis, 39, back in custody now

Robert Solis, 39, who was arrested in January in connection with the kidnapping of his common-law wife, is now accused of breaking the law again by cutting off a court-ordered ankle monitor.

Solis was taken back to jail on Tuesday.

An arrest warrant affidavit details the case that led to his original arrest in January.

The affidavit stated that a 28-year-old woman told San Antonio police that Solis, who is her common-law husband, held her against her will in a South Side home on Jan. 6.

The woman told investigators that Solis handcuffed her and tied her up with duct tape, then shocked her repeatedly with a stun gun, the affidavit stated.

She said, at one point, he threatened to kill her and their two children, and told her that he had a tarp that he would use to dispose of their bodies, the affidavit stated.

The woman later managed to escape and ran to a neighbor's home where she called for help, the affidavit stated.

Solis, though, was gone by the time officers arrived.

About a week later, police put out an appeal for information from the public in a Crime Stoppers report that aired on local TV stations.

Within days of the report, Solis was arrested on a charge of aggravated kidnapping.

However, Mike Lozito, director of judicial services, said Solis soon was released on bond on the condition that he wear an ankle monitor.

"It's a device that attaches to the person's leg and it sends signals to a GPS device," Lozito said. "Once the device is removed, (an) officer gets an alert notification within about two to three minutes."

Lozito said most people who are ordered to wear the monitors are either repeat offenders or accused of committing especially violent crimes.

He also said they usually wear them while they're awaiting trial.

"The courts just want to ensure that the person's in the area and that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing," he said.

Lozito said Solis had been wearing his ankle monitor 24 hours per day until he removed it himself on March 6, apparently by cutting it off.

Attempts like this to get around the system, he said, are relatively rare, happening about once per month.

One high-profile example happened in 2011 when then-25-year-old Stephanie Cerda made the news.

Cerda was under house arrest on repeated drunken driving arrests when she allegedly used lotion to slip out of her monitor.

During that alleged escape, she then was arrested on a third DWI charge.

After his arrest Tuesday, Solis was booked into the Bexar County jail with bond set at $200,000.

For a list of recent stories Katrina Webber has done, click here.

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About the Author:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.