A Hatfield woman is facing charges after she allegedly resisted arrest, threatened to kill two state troopers and then spit on them during a DUI traffic stop last week in Lower Salford Township.
Sherry Soto, 59, has been charged with felony aggravated assault along with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, DUI, resisting arrest, and summary counts of driving in the wrong lane and reckless driving, in connection with the April 16 incident.
Police said they were patrolling southbound on Route 113 at 3:17 a.m. when they observed a black Hyundai Elantra driving northbound in the southbound lane. The vehicle then returned to its proper lane, but continued to cross back and forth over the double yellow line, prompting state troopers to initiate a traffic stop, according to charging documents.
As police approached the vehicle, Soto reportedly exited and began to act erratically, police said, adding that she seemed confused, had an “extremely strong odor of alcohol emanating from her person” and disobeyed every command. Troopers attempted to take Soto into custody, however she actively resisted, according to the complaint.
Once she was placed in the rear of the patrol vehicle, police said Soto spit bodily fluids on one of the state troopers, then threatened to kill both of the troopers. Soto refused to consent to a blood draw for blood-alcohol testing, and police later discovered multiple opened alcohol containers in her vehicle, the complaint states.
Court records show Soto was arraigned later that afternoon by District Judge Deborah Lukens, but bail information was unspecified and only showed that Soto was remanded to county jail after failing to post bail. Two days later, Soto was released from custody after county pre-trial services reduced bail from whatever the unspecified amount was to $5,000 unsecured.
Her next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on May 9 at 10:45 a.m. in front of District Judge Albert Augustine.
A further look at court records shows that Soto has a prior DUI arrest from December 2021 in Towamencin Township which is currently making its way through the county court system. Records show she was formally arraigned on March 2, and is awaiting scheduling for her pre-trial conference in that case.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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