Police arrested a man they say allegedly robbed a man in town while threatening to shoot him if he was uncooperative, and it turns out the suspect does, indeed possess weaponry, just not that day, according to reports.
On April 1, 2024, at roughly 7 p.m., Officers Estefania Castaneda and Kevin Matos responded to a report of a robbery. There, they learned a victim was walking on Kearny Avenue when he was approached from behind by an assailant.
The assailant demanded the victim’s Apple Airpods and his wallet. He reached into his jacket and gestured as though he possessed a firearm, then explicitly threatened to shoot the victim should the victim resist.
Despite the victim turning over the requested property, the assailant then punched him in the face for good measure, then ran away.
The victim detailed the assailant to have been a bearded Latino, wearing jeans and a black jacket over a grey shirt, and with a cigarette held above his ear. A statement was obtained by Det. Frank West, and the actor was later located on surveillance cameras.
The cameras were of very high quality and even captured the actor and an accomplice entering their vehicle in North Arlington. Once photos were obtained, Officers Jason Rodrigues and Mat Lopez immediately identified the actor as Daniel F. Soto, 22, currently of Secaucus. Furthermore, in response to an all-points bulletin, Lyndhurst PD identified him as same, providing body worn camera footage of their last dealings with him, during which he was wearing the exact same clothing as during the Kearny robbery.
Notably, Soto’s facebook.com profile photo is of him dangling a firearm (see the attached image) by its illegally extended magazine, appearing to be a Glock with at least a 20+ round magazine.
A photo array identification procedure was conducted with the victim, who positively identified Soto as the assailant. On April 8, Soto was arrested by Det. West.
He was later processed for robbery and remanded to the Hudson County Jail, South Kearny. As of April 9, Soto was still in custody at the County.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.