Deputies arrest 3 teens in shooting outside Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Lutz

LUTZ — The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has arrested three teenagers accused in last week’s shootings outside a Tropical Smoothie Cafe and a Crunch Fitness in Lutz.

Michael Lopergalo and Ryan Cairel, both 18, and Alejandro Solorzano, 16, each face two counts of attempted first-degree murder during a robbery, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The shooting happened after the three teens came up with a plan to rob their two victims, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy, according to arrest affidavits.

The teens agreed to meet up in the parking lot of the Tropical Smoothie at 23673 State Road 54, near the Pasco/Hillsborough line. The victims told police they were there to sell marijuana, the affidavits state.

The two teens told investigators they were sitting in their car about 8:45 p.m. when they noticed two male suspects approached them in ski masks and carrying guns, the affidavits state. Noticing the firearms, the two teens began to drive away.

Cairel began firing an “AK47-style rifle,” shooting multiple rounds into the passenger side of the vehicle, deputies said. The 16-year-old boy, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was shot twice — once in his buttocks and once in his thigh, according to court documents.

The victims drove to a Crunch Fitness about a mile away in an attempt to escape the shooting and get to safety, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Cairel, Lopergalo and Solorzano followed the victims to the Crunch Fitness parking lot, in the 2120 block of Collier Parkway in Land O’Lakes. The suspects shot at the driver and injured passenger as the two victims ran towards the building, screaming for help, deputies said.

Once the two teen victims made it inside the gym, the suspects drove off.

Lopergalo and Cairel were arrested Saturday in Tampa and were in the Hillsborough County jail awaiting transfer to Pasco, records show. Solorzano was also arrested over the weekend, deputies said.