Wanted Man Slips Away From Elsberry Officer, but a Traffic Stop Ends the Search
ELSBERRY, Mo. — An Elsberry officer found the man he was looking for in an alley Saturday night. He shined his patrol car’s spotlight on Jonathan Soto and ordered him to put his hands up. Soto ran for the back door of a nearby house, got inside and locked it behind him.
The officer had been searching for Soto after dispatch confirmed an outstanding felony warrant through Missouri Probation and Parole. Police began calling for him to come out of the house, but a neighbor reported seeing him leave through the front and head toward the woods near Lost Creek.
Jonathan Peter Soto, Elsberry, Mo
Charges
Resisting or interfering with an arrest for a felony
Elsberry police and Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies searched the area without finding Soto. Then, around 1 a.m. Sunday, deputies arrested him during a traffic stop near Harrell Lane. The search that began in an Elsberry alley ended a few hours later on the road.
Soto pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic assault in December 2025 and was serving supervised probation. Prosecutors have filed a motion to revoke that probation, which the court has not yet decided. The probation matter is separate from the new charge.
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Sources
Elsberry Police Department probable cause statement, September 19, 2026
Missouri Courts, case 26L6-CR00619: charge, warrant, bond and hearing
Missouri Courts, case 26L6-CR00271: conviction, probation and revocation filing
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