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Would-Be Robber Shot By Store Clerk, Deputies Say

Tribune photo by D'ANN WHITE

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies work at the scene of the shooting Monday evening.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2008

SEFFNER - Relaxing in their Seffner backyard on Memorial Day evening, Ann and Jose Delafuento would not have been surprised to hear a few fireworks.

But Jose Delafuento knew he wasn't hearing Roman candles shooting off.

"It was definitely gunshots. Seven or eight of them. Pow, pow, pow," he said.

A few minutes later, the Delafuentos discovered the source of the shots as sheriff's cruisers hastened to the CNK Beverage Pit at 12002 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., nearly across from their home.

The couple said they could see a man lying on the ground west of the business with sheriff's deputies standing over him. A few minutes later, paramedics arrived and began CPR. He was then loaded into an ambulance and taken away.

The man lying on the ground has not been identified by sheriff's deputies. Lt. Sankar Montoute of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said he was pronounced dead at Brandon Regional Hospital as a result of gunshot wounds.

Sheriff's officials provided few details about what took place inside the CNK Beverage Pit on Monday evening.

Montoute said deputies responded to a call from the clerk at the beverage drive-through at 6:41 p.m.

He said the deceased man reportedly arrived on foot, entered the store alone and attempted to rob it, although deputies do not think the man was armed. The male clerk on duty shot the robber inside the store. The would-be robber then ran behind the store, then around the side where he collapsed. Montoute said three bullet casings were found but would not say how many bullets were fired or how many struck the deceased.

Montoute did not identify the clerk, however, family on the scene said the shooter was the store owner, Cres Vigil of Brandon. He and his wife, Karla, have run the store for about two years, leasing the property from Leroy Gonzalez. CNK stands for Cres, Nicole, the couple's daughter, and Karla.

The business is next to Able Body Day Labor, which is a popular hangout for the homeless. Several homeless men were gathered in the woods behind the CNK Beverage Pit drinking when shots rang out. One of the men said others he was with were detained by sheriff's deputies because they witnessed the would-be robber exit the building after being shot.

Neighbors say it isn't the first time the business has been victimized.

Karla Vigil was working alone one morning when she was robbed at gunpoint, said Robert Bathe, who has lived in the area about two years.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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