Two North Philadelphia men have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of 56-year-old Michael Gleba, who was killed April 11 by a stray bullet outside his auto repair shop in Wissinoming.
Shabazz Sweets, 19, of Hunting Park, and Eric Smith, 25, of Olney, were both charged with murder, conspiracy and related crimes for their role in Gleba’s killing, police said.
Gleba was working on a car outside Northeast Speedometer, the shop he owned at Benner and Edmund streets, when he was shot in the stomach around 3:15 p.m. Police officers rushed him to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, and he died just after 4 p.m.
Shell casings littered Benner Street near the repair shop, with Gleba apparently getting caught in the middle of a shootout.
The killing shocked the neighborhood, and Gleba, who lived in Bensalem but grew up in Wissinoming, was “well known for being a kind, selfless, caring, hardworking man of the community,” according to his obituary.
Sweets and Smith are being held without bail, and a preliminary hearing for both men is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, according to court records. Sweets is also facing multiple counts of attempted murder.
Less than an hour after Gleba died, Izeem Hunter, 23, was gunned down inside a corner store at Torresdale Avenue and Anchor Street.
Two other men were arrested and charged with murder in that shooting. Investigators have previously said the incidents may have been related. ••
