« Oster trial: Ex-detective asked about playground project | Today | Update: Witness says Oster agreed to reduce tax bill »

January 30, 2008

Update: Man shot in Providence ID'd as cab driver

PROVIDENCE -- A driver for Gonzalez Cab was shot and wounded shortly after 10 last night as he waited outside a house. The police also said today that a 17-year-old Providence resident is in custody as a suspect.

Carlos Villalona of Providence, 38, had been called to 37 Seabury St.

The cab he was driving was outside the address when two people approached him. One of them fired into the cab and a bullet struck Villalona's right thigh, according to the police. It's not clear why it happened.

Villalona was treated at Rhode Island Hospital for the non-life threatening wound.

The police later detained two suspects, each 17, who were walking on Huntington Avenue. One remains in custody and is to be charged -- it was not clear in which agency's custody and what the charge or charges would be -- while the other was let go.

Last July 16, another cabdriver for Gonzalez Cab Inc., Jose Rodriguez, 42, was shot as he drove three men from Providence to Central Falls in the middle of the day. The police found him in his cab on Fuller Avenue between Sumner and Garfield streets in Central Falls. He died the following day.

Six months have passed, and no one has come forward with information that might help police find the person or persons who killed him. A reward is now being offered.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 1:19 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)