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Woman Charged In Fatal Robbery

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By LISA A. DAVIS

ldavis@tampatrib.com

Published: November 19, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - A woman detectives say is connected to a purse snatching that fatally injured a 62-year-old Hudson woman now faces related charges.
Lisa Michelle Dillard, 39, was booked into Land O' Lakes Jail on Saturday on a probation violation and now faces a strong-arm robbery, accessory-after-the-fact charge.

Bail on that charge is set at $10,000, but there is no bail set for the probation charges.

Pasco County sheriff's investigators say Dillard, of 16916 Bachmann Ave., Lot 7, Hudson, was waiting in a car when her boyfriend Steven Anthony Cruz, 38, came running after snatching a purse from a woman outside of a T.J. Maxx at 12209 U.S. 19, just north of State Road 52, on Nov. 12.

The couple fled the area in a gray Buick Regal with Dillard driving, according to a report.

During the robbery, detectives say, Linda Roma tried to stop Cruz from taking her purse by clutching it. He pulled so violently when he ripped it from her that she fell backward and struck her head on pavement while her daughter, Jennifer, looked on, reports state. Linda Roma died the next day from head injuries.

Pasco deputies soon learned about a couple who tried to purchase jewelry from a Wal-Mart Supercenter not far from the T.J. Maxx just hours after the incident. Their image, as well as another man's, was captured on Wal-Mart video surveillance cameras when the couple tried to buy jewelry with Roma's credit card.

Cruz and Dillard were arrested by Pasco deputies who were assisted by Hernando County deputies about 3 p.m. Saturday near a 7-Eleven at County Line Road and U.S. 19.

The third person on the video with the couple likely won't be charged, Pasco sheriff's office spokesman Kevin Doll said today.

"We can't prove he knew anything about the credit cards or the purse snatching," he said.

Cruz and Dillard deny she knew he was going to rob Roma, according to an arrest affidavit, but Dillard told deputies she drove him away from the crime scene and to Wal-Mart.

Cruz, who lives with Dillard, is being held without bail at the Land O' Lakes Jail on a first-degree murder charge.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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