NC Man Gets 25 Years In Infamous Westchester Home Invasion

YONKERS, NY — A North Carolina man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for a chilling armed 2018 Yonkers home invasion, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced on Monday.

"No one should ever feel unsafe in their home, and the victims in this case demonstrated incredible bravery during a terrifying and violent home invasion," Rocah said. "We hope that this conviction and sentence helps bring them some closure and justice. We thank our law enforcement partners for working together so effectively and diligently to ensure that this dangerous defendant was apprehended."

After a three-week trial, a jury found Confessor Soto, 50, guilty of assault in the second degree, two counts of burglary in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, all violent felonies. Soto was acquitted of attempted murder and attempted assault in the first degree.

On April 23, 2018, at approximately 7:30 a.m., Soto entered the back door of a home on Leighton Avenue armed with a semi-automatic handgun and zip-ties. He tied up the 82-year-old homeowner. Disguising his face with sunglasses and a bandana, Soto forced the homeowner into the bedroom of a 54-year-old daughter. The daughter woke to Soto demanding money at gunpoint. When she told him that she didn't have any money, Soto fired his gun at her, grazing the top of her head.

The daughter escaped the home screaming for help and a good Samaritan called the police. Meanwhile, Soto fled to the Bronx, where he left his clothes and gun in the vestibule of an apartment building on South Broadway.

Soto was captured on video surveillance fleeing the scene of the incident. During the investigation, police recovered the gun used during the incident, along with Soto's clothes, bandana and sunglasses.

Soto was apprehended in Fayetteville, North Carolina on April 30, 2019, by the FBI, following a joint investigation between the Yonkers Police Department, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force. The Westchester County Department of Public Safety assisted Yonkers Police Department with the arrest.