Police confirm details of Soler case
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 25, 2017 11:53 PM
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Former 4th Security Forces Squadron Manager Chief Master Sgt. Hector Soler left Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and was headed home the night he allegedly drove drunk and killed 17-year-old Johny Robert Watson, the Goldsboro Police Department confirmed this week.
Capt. Leann Rabun, the supervisor of the shift that responded to the fatal wreck on Dec. 10, 2016 around 11:30 p.m., said Soler, 47, attended a Christmas party on base before heading to the home of an authority figure, also on base, after the party.
From there, Soler left and headed toward his home on Laredo Drive. On the way, he crashed into the back of Watson's Jeep Grand Cherokee on South George Street, according to police reports.
Rabun said the police department does know whose house Soler was leaving that night, but is not releasing that information.
Rabun also said Soler was at someone's home on base before attending the Christmas party. He went from there to the party, and from the party to yet another home before eventually driving off the base.
The houses Soler went to before and after the Christmas party both belonged to people with authority on base and with authority over Soler, Rabun confirmed.
Fourth Fighter Wing Commander Col. Christopher Sage, through the wing's Public Affairs office, has repeatedly declined requests for in-person interviews. He again declined to be interviewed for this report.
Public Affairs for the 4th Fighter Wing directed all future inquiries on the case to the police department.
"At this time, Seymour Johnson AFB has already communicated all relevant information regarding this event," 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs wrote in an email Friday.
The new details surrounding the crash come on the heels of authorities recently finishing post-incident interviews with about 15 people -- including Soler's former commanding officer, Maj. Gilbert Wyche -- directly related to creating a timeline of events for the night of the wreck, Rabun said.
Rabun confirmed that Wyche -- who was relieved of command about three weeks after the fatal wreck -- was interviewed by authorities, but declined to confirm whether or not Sage had been interviewed.
She said SJAFB's Office of Special Investigations cooperated with the police department's interview process and was instrumental in lining up interviews to create the timeline of events for the night of the crash.
"OSI has been very helpful," Rabun said. "They really helped get a lot of the stuff scheduled and we didn't have to jump through hoops."
Court records show that officer Matthew Habermas, who responded to the wreck, executed a search warrant to seize the event data recorder of Soler's 2016 Hyundai Sonata.
An event data recorder collects vehicle collision information.
Habermas' initial investigation found that Soler was driving 70 mph in a 35 mph zone at the time of the wreck, and that the impact sent Watson's Jeep hurtling 159 feet into a utility pole at the intersection of South George Street and Carver Boulevard.
Rabun said data seized from the event data recorder of Soler's car confirmed Habermas' estimate of Soler's speed at the time of the crash.
A breathalyzer test given to Soler at the Wayne County Jail more than two hours after the wreck registered his blood alcohol content as .16 at 1:43 a.m., and again at 1:47 a.m. on Dec. 11, court records show.
Court records state Soler admitted on the scene to having "several drinks at (a) party" before getting behind the wheel of his car.
Court records listed Watson as having suffered "severe facial lacerations, fractured skull, brain swelling, (and) severe bleeding about the brain" as a result of the crash.
Watson's 18-year-old girlfriend was in the car with him at the time of the wreck, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Watson died from his injuries on Dec. 15 -- five days after the crash -- at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. Soler was initially charged with felony serious injury by motor vehicle following the crash. When Watson died, police upgraded the charge to felony death by motor vehicle.
Soler is also charged with driving while impaired and failure to reduce speed.
The night Watson died, police issued a warrant for Soler's arrest and he, with his attorney, voluntarily turned himself in.
Soler's next appearance in Wayne County court is currently scheduled for April 3.
"Our hearts go out to (Watson's) family, still," Rabun said.