Two men accused of shooting car full of children in Indio due in court
A man already in custody on attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting at a car full of children in Indio — with one of the bullets striking a 15-year-old girl in the head — is due in court today for allegedly firing gunshots in an Indio residential neighborhood earlier this year.
Vicente Manuel Reyes, 22, is accused along with Nicholas Jake Reyes, 21, of firing 14 gunshots in front of a home on Mango Walk in the early morning hours of Feb. 18. No one was struck by the gunfire.
Vicente Manuel Reyes is being held on $216,000 bail and Nicholas Jake Reyes is being held on $50,000 bail.
Police have not disclosed whether the men are related.
According to an arrest warrant declaration, a resident called police at around 4:22 a.m. stating that someone fired shots into the air near the corner of Mango Walk and Pirates Way.
The men were located about 20 minutes later in the 47000 block of Palen Street, about two miles west of the shooting scene. They were allegedly riding in a car that was spotted by a patrolling Indio police officer. The car pulled “into the area and — once seeing the patrol vehicle — conducted a U-turn and drove away,” the declaration states.
The car was stopped and two handguns were found, one of which matched shell casings found on Mango Walk, according to the declaration.
Vicente Reyes, who has remained jailed since May 23 and charged with six counts of attempted murder in a separate case, was allegedly caught on surveillance footage running from the shooting scene and getting into the car believed to be driven by Nicholas Reyes, who was arrested last Thursday in the area of Highway 111 and Oasis St in Indio, according to county jail records.
The elder Reyes also is accused of firing multiple gunshots at a car as it traveled near John Nobles Avenue and Monroe Street at around 10 p.m. May 20, striking a 15-year-old girl in the head and narrowly missing an adult and four other occupants, including three young girls ages 15, 13 and 5 and a 15-year-old boy. A motive for the shooting was not disclosed, but the Indio Police Department characterized it as a “senseless act of violence.”
The girl who was shot was hospitalized in stable condition, police said, but no other details about her condition have been released.
Prosecutors charged the men Monday with shooting at an inhabited dwelling, while Vicente Reyes was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and Nicholas Reyes was charged with carrying a loaded firearm while not being the registered owner.
