Suspect in hotel thefts shot dead in Lorega

The son of a businessman, who was arrested last month for stealing the TV set of a Mandaue City hotel, was shot dead yesterday afternoon in barangay Lorega, Cebu City.

Michael Reyes, 29, died after a motorcycle-riding gunman shot him as he was inside a taxicab.

Reyes, who was facing theft charges and was out on bail, sustained several gunshot wounds in the body and head.

The shooting happened just two corners away from the Cebu City Police Office.

Investigation showed that Reyes and his companion Rey Vincent Aquino were inside an RDSAMC taxi  when two men on a motorcycle blocked the taxi’s path at past noon yesterday.

The back-rider got off, pulled out a gun and shot Reyes, who was then at the front seat of the taxicab.

Aquino, 41, tried to pull Reyes to the backseat but as he saw the gunman approach, he got off the cab and escaped unharmed.

The cab driver, Jose Heredia, also got out of the cab when the man in red T-shirt and helmet started shooting.

Aquino told police that the first shot hit Reyes in the chest. He said the gunman finished off Reyes in the head as he struggled to get outside the the backseat of the cab.

Aquino said that Reyes, also known as Eric Reyes, had earlier fetched him and were heading for the Zapatera area.

The motive for the killing could be drug-related, said Chief Insp. Bonifacio Garciano, chief of  Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB).

Reyes was earlier arrested together with another well-off scion, Edward Teves, for allegedly stealing the LCD TV set, cable box and remote control of Allure Hotel in Mandaue City.

Both men were caught in the security camera of the hotel carrying the appliance.

They were carrying four handguns when they were caught by the police in Cebu City.

Reyes and Teves were later linked to several hotel thefts with their modus operandi being well-off persons—checking in a hotel and then stealing their appliances or other guests’ valuables.

According to National Bureau of Investigation, Reyes was also facing a theft case in the United States.

He was also arrested for drug possession last year.

Police also linked him to the drive-by shootings  in the city last year.

Reyes was released a few weeks ago after he posted a P300,000 bail for the theft and other charges filed against him. /Chito O. Aragon, Correspondent