Skip to content

Second accused in Fas Gas shooting, robbery won’t be tried

Charges have been dropped against one of two men accused in a gas station robbery last September that left a clerk badly wounded from a sawed-off shotgun blast.

Charges have been dropped against one of two men accused in a gas station robbery last September that left a clerk badly wounded from a sawed-off shotgun blast.

Eric Michael Ayotte, 29, appeared in Red Deer provincial court on Monday to set a date for his preliminary inquiry.

However, Crown prosecutor Ed Ring told Judge Gordon Deck that he was dropping five charges against Ayotte in connection with the Sept. 11, 2013, robbery and shooting at the West Park Fas Gas.

Ring told the judge there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction in the case.

Ayotte had been charged with robbery with a firearm, and four other firearms charges. He has also faces an unrelated charge of fraud under $5,000 and is due back in court on that count on Sept. 2.

Ayotte was co-accused along with Jeffrey Lyle Geary, 31. Geary pleaded guilty on Aug. 11 to four charges, including robbery, possession of a loaded and prohibited weapon, manufacturing a prohibited weapon and aggravated assault.

He will be sentenced on Sept. 29.

Jayson Arancon Reyes is still recovering from his wounds after he was shot in the face and hands after turning over cash from his till. Reyes, who was 26 at the time of the shooting, was in the country as a temporary foreign worker. He came to Canada from his home in the Philippines the previous May.

pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com