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Deliveryman wounds robber in shootout

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published October 27, 2006

TEMPLE TERRACE - A quick-acting deliveryman with a gun thwarted an armed robbery at his restaurant job Wednesday night, scaring off one person and shooting another.

The wounded man, Robert S. Lee, 25, of 8402 Del Rey Court, ended up in intensive care at Tampa General Hospital. Police charged Lee, who has a lengthy criminal history, with attempted murder, armed robbery and possessing a firearm with an altered serial number.

His unidentified accomplice remained on the loose Thursday.

That's why Temple Terrace police wouldn't give out the deliveryman's name, and neither would Panda Express on 56th Avenue N at East Riverhills Drive. Workers there Thursday declined to comment.

A police spokesman did, however, describe an evening shootout that made the usually quiet restaurant by the Hillsborough River sound like the Old West.

Spokesman Michael Dunn said two gunmen pulled into the standalone restaurant's parking lot about 10 p.m. One of them saw a restaurant employee outside and grabbed that person, holding them at gunpoint to make sure the people inside got no warning.

The second man, Lee, strode inside brandishing his gun and announced the robbery.

Moments later, the deliveryman returned from a dropoff and saw guns pointed at people he knew. So he grabbed his own gun, jumped out of his car and started shooting.

First, he shot at the outdoor robber, missing but sending him running. Next, he headed inside and aimed at Lee. After a few words, Dunn said, the deliveryman and Lee shot at one another.

Lee missed. The deliveryman didn't. Lee took a bullet "below the waist" and was in serious condition at the hospital.

Police have not charged the deliveryman with a crime for his involvement in the shootout. They did, however, issue their standard antivigilante message.

"We always tell people, Don't take the law into your own hands," Dunn said. "But this situation occurs spontaneously."

[Last modified October 27, 2006, 00:24:09]