BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Boynton Beach man faces attempted murder charges in connection with the shooting outside a Boca Raton restaurant that left two people wounded, including one critically, according to arrest records obtained by BocaNewsNow.com.
Christian Joseph Ippolito, 24, was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling following a May 25 incident at The Standard restaurant in Boca Raton. According to a probable cause affidavit, Ippolito pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired two rounds shortly after 12:30 a.m. during a confrontation outside the establishment. Nicholaus Thomas was struck in the chest and remained hospitalized in critical condition — in a medically induced coma on mechanical ventilation — as of May 29. A second victim, Michael Bogdan, was shot in the right leg and has since been released from medical care.
Detectives pieced the case together largely through surveillance video obtained from multiple surrounding businesses. Footage showed Ippolito arriving at the shopping center in a white sedan, entering the restaurant’s patio area wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, gray hat, and eyeglasses, and then firing twice in Thomas’s direction after a verbal dispute escalated. A witness who stepped between the two men told investigators he recognized Ippolito as a former Olympic Heights High School football teammate, and later pointed him out in surveillance stills. The restaurant’s owner, identified as Witness #4, also viewed the footage and immediately identified the man in the white shirt as his employee “Christian” — later confirmed to be Ippolito, who was employed at Patsy’s Pizzeria Boca Raton. A former high school football coach independently reviewed the footage and said he was approximately 85 percent certain the suspect was Ippolito.
Ippolito, who lists a Boynton Beach address, was arrested by the Boca Raton Police Department. He is held without bond Thursday morning.
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