Masked Robber Shot By Victim: Sheriff’s Office Releases Details

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL — A 30-year-old man described as a transient by Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies faces several criminal charges after his alleged attempt to rob a Wesley Chapel store backfired Thursday morning.

According to the sheriff’s office, Christopher Michael Lilly walked into the Marathon store at 26556 Wesley Chapel Blvd. around 6:30 a.m. Jan. 26 with a mask covering his face and a Highpoint 9 mm handgun in tow. Lilly is accused of holding up Emad El Faraj and Ralph Dinardo at that time.

Lilly, an arrest report said, ordered El Faraj to open the cash register, which he did. He then ordered both El Faraj and Dinardo into the store’s office. While still holding the gun, Lilly is accused of taking $5,764 in cash from the register and other areas behind the counter.

At that point, the victims confronted Lilly, who had set his gun on the floor next to him, the arrest report said. A physical struggle ensued at which time Lilly is accused of reaching for the gun, the report said.

Dinardo, however, pulled out his own gun and shot Lilly in the thigh. Dinardo has a concealed weapons permit, the arrest report noted.

Lilly was taken to a local hospital following the shooting for treatment of a non-life threatening injury. He faces armed robbery and aggravated assault charges. Deputies also say he violated a repeat violence protection order by possessing a firearm.

“Post Miranda, the defendant admitted to being at the Marathon gas station and being ‘shot’ by a customer; he would not provide specific details regarding the incident," the report said.

The sheriff’s office released the arrest report Friday morning. In an email, the agency also noted that Lilly’s girlfriend, Anastasia Parlin, 33, was also arrested in the same general area Thursday on drug-related charges.

Photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office