Bank robber who shot at trooper gets 25 years
Gun misfired in arrest after Perkasie bank hit
A Lansdale man was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 25 years in prison for committing an armed bank robbery in Perkasie and then nearly killing a Pennsylvania State Trooper at a Conshohocken worksite directly thereafter.
Christopher Larue, 44, was sentenced to 25 years and one day in prison, five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine by U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter.
Larue pleaded guilty in October to one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of armed bank robbery, according to U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 19, 2020, Larue entered QNB Bank in Perkasie, wearing dark clothing and a black mask as employees were arriving for work, according to court documents. The defendant brandished a firearm and robbed the bank of more than $11,000. He then fled in his vehicle.
A GPS tracking device hidden with the stolen money quickly led Pennsylvania State Police to the defendant, who had driven to his job site in Conshohocken, according to documents. When police attempted to arrest him, Larue pointed a gun at the head of a trooper and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired and troopers were able to handcuff Larue.
In and around the defendant’s work locker, investigators found the stolen money, additional ammunition, and the clothing and mask Larue wore during the robbery, documents state.
Larue previously served more than 12 years in federal prison after being convicted in 2009 of five bank robberies and was on supervised release at the time of this offense.
“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 Williams. “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.”
“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. “That was just after Larue had held three bank employees at gunpoint during a robbery — and that was after a previous string of bank robberies for which he’d served time.
“This is a dangerous serial offender who needs to be off the street. The FBI will continue working with the Pennsylvania State Police and all our law enforcement partners to keep violent criminals like Larue from committing further harm.”
The case was investigated by the Perkasie Borough Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle L. Morgan.