Second man arrested in connection with Preston drive-by homicide
State police have arrested a second man in connection with the Oct. 27 fatal drive-by shooting in Preston.
Michael Soto, 42, of Hartford, was charged Friday with risk of injury to a minor and unsafe storage of a firearm in a home.
He is being held in lieu of $500,000 at the Hartford Correctional Center and is due to appear in the Geographical Area 14 court in Hartford on Nov. 15.
An arrest warrant affidavit detailing the charges against Soto was not immediately available.
A summary of the case released by state police Monday indicates Soto met detectives from the Eastern District Major Crime Squad at a location in East Hartford on Friday evening and was taken into custody.
The investigation into the death of Robert Thompson, 35, of Preston, is continuing, according to state police.
Detectives allege that 25-year-old Francis L. Giannelli of Glastonbury shot a .380-caliber pistol into a pickup truck in which Thompson was a passenger at the intersection of Routes 12 and 2A at about 1:20 a.m. Saturday following an altercation at Mohegan Sun.
Thompson died of a gunshot wound to the neck, according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Giannelli was charged Oct. 30 with murder, criminal use of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit and is being held in lieu of $1 million at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center.
Giannelli told detectives he was carrying a semi-automatic handgun that night that is not registered to him and that he didn't have a valid pistol permit.
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