A 22-year-old man wanted in Texas on a warrant for aggravated sexual assault of a child was arrested this week at a home in the Stratmoor Hills area of unincorporated El Paso County, after deputies used a drone to pinpoint his vehicle before moving in. Geronimo Soto was taken into custody without incident and is now being held at the El Paso County Jail while he awaits extradition to Texas.
The case began when the Bell County Sheriff's Office in Belton, Texas, alerted El Paso County authorities to Soto's suspected whereabouts, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. The tip came through Bell County's Violent Crime Apprehension Team, which had identified Soto as a wanted fugitive and reached out to its investigator in Belton to coordinate with Colorado authorities. That specialized Texas unit works routinely with out-of-county and out-of-state agencies to run down high-risk felony warrants, according to KCEN-TV.
Once the tip came in, El Paso County's Intelligence-Based Operations Center and Fugitive Impact Team deputies launched their own investigation, believing Soto was staying at a residence in the 4300 block of Erickson Drive. The sheriff's office's Drone as a First Responder program located Soto's vehicle in the area and fed real-time information to deputies on the ground, allowing them to confirm his presence before approaching the home.
A Familiar Playbook in Stratmoor Valley
This is not the first time drone surveillance has helped El Paso County deputies close in on a wanted sex offender in the area. The same DFR and Fugitive Impact Team combination was used in July to track down and arrest 39-year-old Joseph Pietsch on a felony warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, part of a “Drone Sting In Stratmoor Valley” that Hoodline reported at the time. A month earlier, the technology had located a burglary suspect in Stratmoor Valley within three minutes, per the sheriff's office.
Fugitive Impact Team deputies ultimately took Soto into custody without incident and transported him to the El Paso County Jail, where he is being held on the felony warrant. Sheriff Joseph Roybal credited the outcome to cooperation across agencies. “Strong partnerships between law enforcement agencies are essential to protecting communities,” Roybal said, according to the sheriff's office's Facebook announcement. He added that coordination among the Bell County Sheriff's Office, the Fugitive Impact Team, and the Intelligence-Based Operations Center “helped locate and safely apprehend the fugitive,” and said his office “remains committed to supporting law enforcement partners and preventing criminals from finding safe haven in El Paso County.”
What Happens Next for Soto
Soto's arrest sets in motion a formal legal process rather than an immediate return to Texas. Because he was picked up in Colorado on an out-of-state warrant, his case now falls under Colorado's Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, which requires the governor to arrest and surrender fugitives wanted for felonies in other states, according to Colorado law. Soto is being held in El Paso County Jail pending those extradition proceedings, or a possible waiver that would let him return to Texas voluntarily.
Whether Soto will contest extradition, and when Bell County authorities plan to transport him back to Texas, remain open questions, as do the specific facts underlying the Texas indictment, which is being handled by Bell County media relations. If convicted, Soto would face severe statutory penalties: under Texas Penal Code Section 22.021, aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 is a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of 25 years and up to life in prison, according to the Deandra Grant Law firm's overview of the statute, without standard parole eligibility.
Part of a Broader Local Push
The arrest fits a pattern of aggressive local enforcement against sex offenders and fugitives that has intensified this year. In March, the sheriff's office's Special Victims Unit arrested a 48-year-old college instructor on 77 felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. Just days before Soto's capture, an 18-hour manhunt involving the Fugitive Impact Team, the Colorado Springs Police Department, and the FBI's Denver field office led to the arrest of a man accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old in Security-Widefield, a case Hoodline covered in its report on a suspect freed on $15,000 bond.
Stratmoor Hills and neighboring Stratmoor Valley, both unincorporated communities in southern El Paso County, have seen a string of major law enforcement responses in recent months, including a domestic stabbing and attempted homicide arrest in November that drew Stratmoor Hills Fire Department paramedics to the scene. Drone technology in particular has become a fixture of regional policing, with the Colorado Springs Police Department also deploying aerial surveillance in an August 2 search near the El Paso County Jail tied to a road-rage pepper-ball shooting.
