Pair plead not guilty to firing gunshots at car full of children in Indio

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. Police have not disclosed whether the men are related.

According to an arrest warrant declaration, a resident called police at 4:22 a.m. stating that someone fired shots into the air near the corner of Mango Walk and Pirates Way.

Vicente Manuel Reyes is being held on $216,000 bail and Nicholas Jake Reyes is being held on $50,000 bail.

The men were located around 20 minutes later in the 47000 block of Palen Street, about two miles west of the shooting scene, riding in a car that was spotted by a patrolling Indio police officer. The driver 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 is 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 June 14 in the area of Highway 111 and Oasis St in Indio, according to county jail records.

In a separate case, the elder Reyes is accused of firing multiple gunshots at a car as it traveled near John Nobles Avenue and Monroe Street 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 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 were released.

Prosecutors charged the men this month 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.

Both men are due back in court July 17 for a felony settlement conference.