CYPRESS : Man Is Commended for Killing Suspect

Louis Michael Weiser, who shot and killed a robbery suspect last year, was commended by the City Council this week for his action.

City officials credited Weiser with saving the lives of Moshe and Sandra Joshua, Weiser’s neighbors on Matinicus Court.

The suspect had forced his way into the Joshuas’ home late one night in December and struggled with them, threatening to kill them, police said.

Weiser heard Sandra Joshua screaming for help and witnessed the struggle between the suspect and the Joshuas. He called police and headed over to his neighbors’ home.

When the suspect saw Weiser, he threatened to kill him too, officials said. But Weiser, who had his own gun, shot and killed the suspect.

Authorities said the dead man, 26-year-old Hector Armando Reyes of Anaheim, was on the run from police after he and another man robbed a McDonald’s restaurant in Los Alamitos earlier that night.

Police Capt. Robert Bandurraga said the man who helped Reyes rob McDonald’s was arrested.

Bandurraga called the Reyes killing an “excusable homicide” because Weiser was defending himself and his neighbors against an armed suspect.

Council members called Weiser’s action “unselfish and heroic.”

“You hate to have any type of gun warfare in your community, but when it does happen and you see a neighbor come to the rescue of another neighbor, it’s an example of the community helping one another,” Councilwoman Cecilia L. Age said.

The City Council plans to present Weiser with a plaque March 28.

Weiser said he was honored by the council’s commendation but declined to comment further.