NASHUA, NH — A felon from Nashua with a violent criminal history was arrested on Saturday, accused of threatening a woman with a BB gun earlier this month.
Police were sent to a residence around 4 p.m. to speak to a woman about a letter police received from DCYF. According to an affidavit, the woman picked up another family member at a sober house on Kinsley Street, where Devonta Soto, 31, was staying and visiting with the family member. The woman accused Soto of placing his hands on the back of the other person and “responded aggressively” when they objected to being touched. An argument ensued, Soto retrieved a firearm, racked it, and pointed it at the family member before placing it back in the dresser drawer, an affidavit stated.
Nashua’s special investigations division was notified about the case and a detective spoke to the woman again at police headquarters. The woman, the report said, reiterated the same accusation as she had done with the officer. The family member was upset by the incident and they believed the firearm was real, the report stated.
A warrant was issued for Soto’s arrest on one felony count of domestic violence-criminal threatening with a deadly weapon on Friday night. A detective also applied for a search warrant on Kinsley Street.
Soto was arrested on Saturday just before 2 p.m.
During the search of Soto’s bedroom, police found a Glock 17, .177 caliber pellet pistol in the drawer, according to the affidavit.
“A CO2 magazine was seated within the pellet gun,” the detective wrote.
A container of copper-coated steel pellets was also found in the dresser, the report said.
Detectives spoke with Soto after he was Mirandized, and he admitted to arguing with the woman but said the family member took the pellet gun out of the drawer, an affidavit said. The slide to the pellet gun fell to the floor, and they began manipulating it, the report stated. Soto then was accused of admitting he pulled the slide backward but denied pointing the pellet gun at anyone.
Soto was held on $2,000 cash bail and was arraigned on Dec. 16.
Soto’s criminal history dates back more than 12 years, according to posts on Patch and superior court records.
Back in February 2013, when he was 20, he was arrested on felonious sexual assault, second-degree assault, criminal restraint, and other charges in Nashua. Two year later, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and simple assault charges and received two years probation. Two months later, he pleaded guilty to a violation of probation or parole charge — after being arrested on falsifying physical evidence, receiving stolen property, felon in possession, and resisting arrest charges in Nashua in August 2014.
Soto was sentenced to 12 month, two-and-a-half to five years, and three-and-a-half to seven years in prison sentences with 230 days of time served.
In Hudson, in May 2018, Soto was accused of theft and self-defense weapon-felon in possession charges. In February 2019, he was accused of forgery and credit card fraud-less than $1,000. As part of a plea deal, the theft, weapon, and credit card charges were nolle prossed, and he received a one-to-three-year sentence on the forgery charge, all suspended for two years.
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Soto was accused of felony credit card fraud in April 2020 after an incident in Manchester. He pleaded guilty to the charge about 15 months later and received a two-to-four-year sentence, suspended for four years, with four years probation. Soto was also required to make $1,511.05 in restitution to the New Hampshire Department of Corrections.
The Nashua Police Department requests anyone with more information about the incident to contact the Crime Line at 603-589-1665.
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