Contact:  Sgt. Joe Gentile (202)
                 Traci L. Hughes (202) 615-6806/(202) 727-9346

(Washington, DC) – Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier has invoked power vested in the Chief of Police by the Council of the District of Columbia to temporarily shut down Solo’s Restaurant and Carryout (Solo), located at 3566 14th Street, NW. Solo was closed at 5 pm today, in connection with the stabbing of a Metropolitan Police Officer and an assault on an unarmed Special Police Officer.
 
Chief Lanier notified Solo owner Jose Alesteves of the shutdown today.  “I found that continued operation of this establishment presents an imminent danger to the health and safety of the public, that there would be an additional imminent danger to the health and welfare of the public if the establishment was not closed, and that there is no other immediately available measure that would ameliorate the threat to public safety,” said Chief Lanier.  
 
Since August 1, 2006, the Metropolitan Police Department has been dispatched to Solo on at least nine separate occasions.  At least six of these dispatched calls for service were for assault.
 
Solo will remain closed for 96 hours pending an investigation by the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration and the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
 
Nineteen-year-old Jose (Tito) Diaz has been charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon/knife, and 34-year-old Jose Villalta has been charged with Assault With Intent to Kill – both in connection with the April 20, 2007 incident.