An Illegal Migrant, Who Had Committed Three Violent Thefts earlier, Shot Dead After Pulling A Gun On Off-Duty NYPD Cop

As per media reports, Lahione Soto, of the Dominican Republic, died after he was shot by the cop outside a residential building at West 173rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights late Sunday.

Soto, who had crossed the US border in El Paso, Texas, in June last year, was one of two moped-riding persons who ambushed the off-duty officer, the sources said.

The migrant and his alleged accomplice, who was still on the run as of early Monday, are accused of carrying out three other gunpoint robberies in the lead-up to the fatal encounter with the cop.

They allegedly robbed multiple victims, including a married couple, of their jewelry and stole a moped from one person over a 20-minute stretch, the sources said.

Sources said the duo then approached the off-duty cop outside the apartment block just before 9:50 p.m., asking, “Does Steve live here?”