Former LCSO deputy pleads not guilty to jewelry store shooting

Writer: Elyssa Morataya
Published: Updated:
Former LCSO deputy pleads not guilty. Michael Soto

A former Lee County deputy has been caught on the wrong side of the law twice now, but he says he is innocent.

Michael Soto was in court on Monday where he pleaded innocent after he was arrested in August accused of shooting into a jewelry store.

In a video from that night, you see a white Ford F-150 pull onto Lee Boulevard, and a flash of light comes from the passenger window. Moments later, a glass door shatters at the store.

Detectives said the person shooting was the former Lee County deputy.

In August of 2023, Soto was pulled over for speeding.

A report from that night states Soto did a “poor job” with field sobriety tests and refused to give a blood, breath or urine sample.

The highest-ranked deputy at the scene determined Soto was having a medical incident and took Soto home.

Soto resigned in August after turning himself in for the shooting.

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