Thread: Grand jury indicts Putnam County man for attempted murder

http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1011456

Grand jury indicts Putnam County man for attempted murder
CARMEL, N.Y. -- A 24-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador was indicted today on attempted murder and kidnapping charges, Putnam County District Attorney Kevin Wright announced.

Police said that in July, Marvin Adalborto Sorto tried to kill his ex-girlfriend and kidnap her new boyfriend outside the woman's house in Mahopac, N.Y.

According the authorities, Sorto stuck a gun in the boyfriend's stomach and told him to get into his car. Sorto then allegedly fired a shot at his ex-girfriend as she tried to run away. The bullet missed and the ex-boyfriend started to fight Sorto,who then fled the scene alone.

Police caught up with Sorto at a Mahopac motel. Police said Sorto had made previous threats to kill the woman, with whom he had three children.

Sorto is being held on $750,000 bail in the Putnam County Jail. He is being represented by the Putnam County Legal Aid Society.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs ... 023/NEWS07

Putnam grand jury indicts man on attempted murder charge
By TERRY CORCORAN
tcorcora@lohud.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: August 30, 2006)


CARMEL — He came to Mahopac all the way from Houston to reunite with the mother of three of his children.

But when Marvin Adalborto Sorto, a 24-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, approached his ex-girlfriend's Buckshollow Road home on July 16 and saw her returning from breakfast with another man, any thoughts Sorto had of reconciliation apparently went by the wayside.

Sorto pulled out a pistol and pressed it against the new boyfriend's stomach while ordering him into a car, Putnam County District Attorney Kevin Wright said. Sorto then fired at shot at his ex as she tried to run away, narrowly missing her, Wright said.

After struggling with the new boyfriend, Sorto then escaped in his car, only to be captured a short time later by Carmel police at a Route 6 motel.

Wright announced yesterday that a Putnam County grand jury had indicted Sorto on a host of felony charges, including attempted second-degree murder and attempted second-degree kidnapping. Sorto remained yesterday at the Putnam County jail, where he's being held in lieu of $750,000 bail.

The 22-year-old woman and Sorto had been separated for more than a year, Wright said. She moved to Mahopac in October. Police later learned that Sorto had contacted her in the weeks before his visit and threatened to kill her if he found her with another man, Wright said.

After forcing the new boyfriend into his car and firing the shot at the woman, Sorto struggled with the man as the gun, a .25-caliber pistol, dropped to the ground. Hearing police sirens, Sorto picked up the gun and fled in his Honda sedan.

Carmel Officers Stephen Kunze and Justin Fisher found Sorto sitting in his car in the Budget Motel parking lot on Route 6. They ordered him out at gunpoint, later finding the gun behind the passenger seat. Detective Robert Bagnarol also worked on the case.

The grand jury, which returned its indictment Friday to Putnam County Judge Robert E. Miller, also charged Sorto with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, felonies, and two misdemeanor counts of second-degree harassment.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Charbonneau presented the case to the grand jury.