Charges have been filed against three teenagers after fatally shooting a man in an attempted car robbery Friday morning in Indiana, police said.
The teenagers charged have been identified as 18-year-old Thomas Reichler of Chesterton, 19-year-old Nathaniel Sipe of Westville, and 19-year-old Korey Izynski of Clarksville.
Portage resident Alexius Tapia, 36, had confronted the three men with a gun around 5:30 a.m after he found them attempting to break into vehicles parked in his driveway at the 6000 block of Mill Run Avenue.
When he tried to lead them to his front door to call police, two of the suspects ran and one of the suspects pulled out a gun and fired several shots, striking Tapia once in the chest, police said. Tapia was taken to the Portage branch of Regional Hospital where he later died.
The gun used to shoot and kill Tapia was stolen, police said. Tapia also fired at the suspect with the gun, hitting him in both of his arms.
Tapia was a father of four, and his youngest child is just 6 months old.
Local
"Everybody loved to be around him. He was just someone everyone could get along with. He never did bad to no one," said Tapia's 17-year-old daughter, Priscilla Tapia.
Reichler, Sipe, and Izynski are suspected of breaking into at least 10 cars Friday morning after several neighbors reported items missing from their cars, police said.
