Officials: 2 slain by man on run after credit union robbery

CORNWALL, PA. >> Authorities allege that two men found shot to death near a crashed car in eastern Pennsylvania this year were killed by a man on the run after a credit union robbery.

Gilberto Torres-Reyes is charged in Lebanon County with criminal homicide in the deaths of Alexis Rafael Perez-Garcia, 27, and Jelson Dejesus-Ortiz, 34, who were found with gunshot wounds April 9 outside a car on Route 72 in Cornwall, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Reading.

Authorities allege in an arrest warrant that Torres-Reyes, 37, earlier held up the Riverfront Credit Union in Wyomissing, and local police credited clear surveillance camera images with helping to identify the suspect.

According to the arrest warrant on the homicide charges filed by Cornwall and Lebanon County detectives, a witness told them she knew TorresReyes and knew about the robbery. She alleged that she heard him offer the victims $400 each if they would drive him to Pittsburgh and then saw them drive off together, the detectives said. Each of the shooting victims was found with $400 in his pocket, and the defendant’s DNA was found on a cigarette butt in the wrecked car, the detectives said

Federal marshals arrested Torres-Reyes several days later in New York City. The filing of the homicide charges comes two months after he pleaded guilty to a robbery charge and was sentenced by a Berks County judge to 38 months to 10 years in prison.

Court documents don’t list an attorney for TorresReyes; a listed number for him couldn’t be found Saturday. Court records indicate he was represented by the Berks County public defender in the robbery case; the Lebanon County public defender’s office could not be reached Saturday for comment on whether he was seeking representation from them.