Police have not released information regarding a possible motive for a Christmas Eve back-alley shooting in Anaheim. The encounter left one man dead and the suspect, after a 15-day search, imprisoned.
The December 24th, 2018, shooting occurred on the 500 block of North Sabina Street in Anaheim at about 6:30pm, at which time Anaheim police responded to a shots fired call.
There, a 45-year-old Anaheim resident, identified as Fernando Guerrero Cervantes, was found to be in critical condition, suffering from a gunshot wound. While officials had Cervantes transported to an Orange County hospital for care, he eventually succumbed to his injuries on January 7th, 2019.
Homicide detectives from the Anaheim Police Department launched an investigation and identified the suspect in the shooting as Miguel Reveles Villegas, aged 35 and of Placentia, California. He remained at-large until the morning of January 8th, when police spotted him driving near to the intersection of Magnolia Street and Lincoln Avenue in Anaheim, about 5 miles from the Disneyland theme parks and resort area.
Villegas snubbed the police attempt to stop him. A pursuit ensued, assisted by the California Highway Patrol, down Interstate 5, terminating about 80 miles south on that same freeway right past Via de la Valle in San Diego. At that point, Villegas stopped his car and ran on foot from the officers. He was taken into custody nearby without further incident.
Officials later booked Villegas at the Anaheim Detention Facility in lieu of $1 million bail as a suspect in attempted murder and felony evasion. Because the investigation is still active, police have not released Villegas’ booking photo nor information regarding possible motives for the shooting.
