Lower Moreland Police Arrested A Man Who Gave A False Name And Had Warrant Out Of Philly

LOWER MORELAND, PA — Township police arrested a man following a traffic stop recently after the defendant provided false identification and after officers discovered he had an active arrest warrant out of the City of Philadelphia.

The Lower Moreland Police Department said that officers on routine patrol stopped a vehicle driven by Eladio Sanchez Soto, 36, of Philadelphia, back on April 16 when Soto reportedly failed to stop at a stop sign in the area of Huntington Pike and Spur Road.

When asked for identification, Soto provided a vehicle registration and insurance card but failed to provide a driver's license, saying he was borrowing the vehicle from a friend, and that he did not possess a valid driver's license, according to police.

Officers then asked Soto for his name, birth date, address and phone number, but he provided the officers with false information, according to police.

Upon further investigation, officers determined Soto's true identity and they learned that he had an active arrest warrant out of the City of Philadelphia.

Officers eventually showed Soto a photo of his real identity, and Soto confirmed that the picture was, in fact, him, police stated.

Soto is being charged with misdemeanor counts of unsworn falsification to authorities and false identification to a law enforcement officer.

Lower Moreland Police said Soto was taken into custody at the scene and that he is awaiting transfer to Philadelphia County.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 27 before Magisterial District Judge Jay S. Friedenberg.

The Philadelphia case appears to date back to the fall of 2019 when Soto was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment and recklessly endangering another person, according to a criminal docket sheet out of Philadelphia Municipal Court.

A timeline of events on the docket sheet shows that there was a bench warrant hearing scheduled for April 18 and 19 before Senior Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni, and a preliminary hearing appears to be scheduled for May 17 before Municipal Court Judge Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde.

The docket sheet does not offer details on the nature of the allegations against Soto and why he was arrested on those charges, so the reason for the underlying case against him was not immediately clear by the time of the publication of this story.