'Bad dope': San Antonio gang leader arrested after shooting man over drugs, police say

SAPD: David Soto was on run after shooting victim in head

Courtesy: Bexar County Jail

SAN ANTONIO – A 27-year-old man was arrested after police said he shot a man in front of his North Side home over bad drugs.

Authorities took David Rodolfo Soto into custody late Tuesday night on several felony charges.

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On May 8 around 3:30 a.m., San Antonio police went to a home in the 1400 block of Alhambra Street for a shooting.

RELATED: Man in critical condition after being shot outside North Side home

When they arrived, they found a 30-year-old man in the street lying in a "pool of blood surrounding his head."

The man was rushed to University Hospital. An update on his condition was not provided by police.

While police had little to no information on the day of the shooting, a detective said they were able to gather an account from a witness, who named Soto as the shooter.

The witness said the victim showed up at Soto's home to confront the person who sold him "bad dope." When Soto told another man to "handle it" giving him a gun, the man hesitated, according to the affidavit.

"(Soto then) grabbed the gun (from the man) and shot the victim," the witness told the detective.

The witness said he knows Soto through the A-Block gang, adding that Soto was a leader of that gang.

Online jail records show Soto was arrested on suspicion of two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of body armor.

He remains in the Bexar County Jail, and his bail has been set at $190,000.

In 2013, Soto was sentenced to two years in prison for possession of a controlled substance. Nearly two months after he was released from prison, he was rearrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm and was handed a four-year prison sentence, according to online jail records.

Online jail records show Soto has been previously arrested on other charges of assault and evading detention.


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