Montco man sentenced to 25 years after armed bank robbery, pulling gun on Pa. state trooper
"This sentencing is especially poignant during a week when we have lost two state troopers," said U.S. Attorney Williams.
PERKASIE, Pennsyvlania (WPVI) -- A Montgomery County man has been sentenced to 25 years and one day in prison for robbing a bank at gunpoint and then attempting to murder a Pennsylvania state trooper, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Thursday.
Christopher Larue, 44, of Lansdale was also sentenced Wednesday to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $7,500 fine.
"This sentencing is especially poignant during a week when we have lost two Pennsylvania State Troopers who were bravely executing their duty in the face of extreme danger," said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of Monday, October 19, 2020, Larue entered a QNB Bank in Perkasie, wearing dark clothing and a black mask as employees were arriving for work.
Larue displayed a firearm.
Authorities said he took two cash drawers from a safe, robbing the bank of over $11,000.
Before leaving, he demanded cellphones from the employees and customers, and then forced them into a vault.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said a GPS tracking device hidden with the stolen money quickly led Pennsylvania State Police to Larue, who had driven to his job site on the 400 block of Schuylkill River Road in Conshohocken.
When state police arrived and attempted to arrest Larue, authorities said he pointed a gun at the head of a trooper and pulled the trigger over and over again, but the gun misfired and troopers were able to handcuff Larue.
"Christopher Larue aimed a loaded gun at a state trooper's head, asked him if he wanted to die that day, and repeatedly pulled the trigger. It was very nearly a tragedy, but thankfully the weapon didn't fire," said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division.
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In and around Larue's work locker, investigators said they found the stolen money, additional ammunition and the clothing and mask worn during the robbery.
"This is a shining, yet terrible, example of the risk that our police officers willingly place themselves in to protect us every day," Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said at the time.
In October 2021, Larue pleaded guilty to one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of armed bank robbery.
"In this case, the defendant acted with complete disregard and callousness for the lives of the Pennsylvania State Troopers and the bank employees whom he threatened with a firearm. But for a misfired gun, the outcome could have been yet another tragic loss of life. The U.S. Attorney's Office will not tolerate this kind of violent lawlessness," Williams said.
Larue previously served over 12 years in federal prison after being convicted in 2009 of five additional bank robberies and was on supervised release at the time of this crime, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
