Former B.D.F. soldier dodges bullet during robbery attempt

Ronlee Petillo

A former B.D.F. solider put the skills he acquired in the military to good use when he fought off an attack that could have ended fatally. But while twenty-five year old Danny Maskall, escaped unharmed, he was robbed of a cell phone and a small amount of cash. That took place last Friday and by this morning twenty-one year old Ronlee Petillo was in the hot seat answering to a charge of Robbery. He pleaded not guilty, but was not offered bail and will spend next month behind bars because he allegedly shot at Maskall. The ex-soldier told the court that he was walking home from the Lion King’s Bar at the corner of Amara Avenue and King Street when he saw a man on a bicycle and a woman on foot coming toward him. Maskall says the man threw down his bike, pointed a handgun to his forehead and took his phone and cash from his pockets. According to Maskall, he panicked and knocked away the gun from his head. He then managed to hit his attacker and then took off running. Maskall says he heard a single shot fired as he ran, but it missed. Police detained Petillo on Sunday.

Fernando Elijio

In another case, thirty-five year old Fernando Elijio was also charged with robbery today. When he appeared before Magistrate Sharon Frazer, he was hit with two counts for holding up two women in a twenty minute time span. Elijio’s first victim was Monica Archer, who he approached with a firearm on St. Thomas Street and stole her purse. Minutes later near the Farmers Market on Central American Boulevard, he robbed Virginia Mendez of a silver chain and gold medal valuing a hundred and forty-five dollars. This time the police spotted Elijio running and set chase and, in a desperate attempt at escaping, he jumped into the Haulover Creek at the Belcan Bridge. But the cops fished him out minutes later and he was taken into custody. Elijio was remanded to Hattieville Prison until March twenty-second.