Suspect in String of Holdups Fatally Shot after Pulling Gun on Off-Duty NYPD Officer

By Rocco Parascandola

Source New York Daily News

An off-duty NYPD officer shot to death a 30-year-old migrant who pulled a gun on him on a Manhattan street, officials said Monday.

The slain suspect, Lahione Soto, is suspected in a string of nearby holdups in the minutes leading up to the shooting, police sources said.

The officer opened fire after being confronted by Soto on a white moped in Washington Heights, hitting him in the chest three times after Soto whipped out a gun about 9:45 p.m. on Sunday, according to police.

Soto arrived to the United States from the Dominican Republic in June 2024, sneaking across the border in El Paso, Texas, police sources said.

The officer was standing outside a residential building near W. 173rd St. and Amsterdam Ave. when Soto and another man rode up on mopeds, cops said.

“Does Steve live here?” Soto asked the cop, police sources said.

“One male got off the moped and asked the officer if he knew an individual’s name and then proceeded to display a firearm,” NYPD Deputy Chief Eric Pagan said at a news conference. “Once seeing the firearm, the off-duty officer drew his firearm, discharged multiple rounds, striking the male. The second male then fled the location on his moped.”

The second man, who was dressed all in black including a sweatshirt with the Gap logo on front, fled on a black moped south on Amsterdam Ave. and has not been caught.

The gunman was rushed to Harlem Hospital, but he could not be saved. The off-duty officer was treated for ringing of the ears, according to police sources.

Police recovered a gun at the scene.

Cops are investigating a string of crimes in which the duo may have been involved before the shooting.

“In the 15 minutes prior to the incident, there were three separate gunpoint chain snatches in Washington Heights,” a police official told the Daily News. “Believe that it was the same two guys.”

Just after the shooting, police responded to Broadway and W. 162nd St. where a 55-year-old man reported he had been robbed of his gold chain and gold bracelet a short time ago by two men on mopeds who flashed a gun at him, police sources said.

“Give me what you got or I will shoot you,” the victim said he was told.

Meanwhile, a 52-year-old woman reported to police that she and her 31-year-old husband were robbed at gunpoint by two men on a moped of her necklace and medallion on Broadway and W. 158th St. about five minutes before the police-involved shooting. The crooks took off heading uptown on Broadway.

“Give me your necklace or I will kill you,” the crooks told the couple before hitting the husband in the head and left knee with a gun, taking his chain as well.

About two hours after the police-involved shooting, cops responded to Broadway and St. Nicholas Ave. where a 27-year-old man had been robbed of his moped when two men on a single moped held him up at gunpoint and fled downtown on Broadway. The time that incident occurred was not immediately clear.

“Get off the bike or I will shoot you,” the victim said he was told.

The stolen moped was later found by cops near West 173rd St. and Amsterdam Ave., sources said.

The shooting is the third involving NYPD officers in less than a week.

On Friday night, Jesse Campbell, 44, was killed in what police believe was a suicide-by-cop incident, with Campbell waving around a fake pistol outside a Staten Island diner in Great Kills.

Campbell’s mother told the Daily News he was struggling with addiction and PTSD and wanted to die.

Police say he refused to drop his weapon, a busted air pistol, and aimed it at a pair of off-duty officers who confronted him behind Andrew’s Diner on William Ave. near Hylan Blvd. about 8:20 p.m.

One of the officers opened fire, fatally striking Campbell multiple times.

Last Tuesday, on-duty NYPD officers shot and wounded a 22-year-old two-time convicted felon who was trading shots with a rival in Brooklyn.

Edynesson Bauduy and Aaron Richard got into a gunfight near Ocean and Church Aves. about 7:30 p.m., with officers nearby running over and shooting Bauduy in the leg as Richard ran off.

Bauduy was hospitalized in stable condition, then hit with federal gun charges. Richard, who was later arrested, was also charged by the feds.

According to court documents, video footage of the incident shows Richard walking and talking with Bauduy, who was on a scooter. Richard then punched Bauduy, who pulled his gun and allegedly fired at Richard, who then allegedly fired back.

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