Carjackers kill man in attempt to steal high-priced hubcaps

ST. LOUIS -- An sports utility vehicle filled with seven members of an extended family from Indianapolis drove through the night to visit friends in St. Louis, only to get off at the wrong exit on Interstate 70.

The mistake proved tragic.

When a carload of young men saw the SUV near downtown early Sunday, they decided they wanted the hubcaps, police said. In the ensuing carjacking attempt, Gerardo Perez, 26, of Indianapolis, was shot to death. The driver, Jose Luis Perez, 30, was critically wounded. Two other passengers in the SUV were also hurt.

"They took the life of one person simply to steal hubcaps," police chief Joe Mokwa said Monday.

Luther Jones, 22, Cortez Tolen, 17, and Robert Simmons, 18, all of St. Louis, were arrested late Sunday and charged with first-degree murder. A fourth suspect was expected to turn himself in soon, Mokwa said.

Took wrong exit

The adults in the SUV operated a restaurant in Indianapolis and left after closing on Saturday for the trip west. They inadvertently took a downtown exit rather than getting onto southbound Interstate 55 as they planned, but still were within a few miles of their destination after arriving in St. Louis at around 4:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, Mokwa said a group of young men was riding around downtown in a friend's borrowed car with no license plates. The vehicles converged on Tucker Boulevard south of downtown.

Pulled in front of Tahoe

The young men cut in front of Perez's 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe and got out. Mokwa said the SUV's rims were fashionable and valued at between $500 and $1,000.

Jose Luis Perez tried to back the SUV away. Mokwa said Jones fired a semiautomatic assault rifle a dozen times at the SUV, occupied by four adults and three children. Gerardo Perez was struck in the head and killed. Jose Perez was grazed in the head and struck in the thigh. He was in critical but stable condition at Saint Louis University Hospital.

Hurt by flying glass

Flying glass cut the hands of Elia Escobar, 22, Gerardo Perez's wife. His brother, Eduardo Perez, 11, had cuts to a thumb and the top of his head.

Also in the car were Escobar's 6-year-old daughter and two Perez sisters.

"They were innocent victims. They had done nothing wrong. They were in the wrong place," Mokwa said.

The four suspects fled the scene, two on foot and two in their vehicle. The arrests followed tips from residents of a public housing complex where some of the men live.

Mokwa said the weapon was recovered. So were stereos, speakers and other items believed to have been stolen from cars.