Christopher Larue, 44, of Lansdale.
A Lansdale man will spend the next 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to robbing a bank in Bucks County and later attempting to shoot a state trooper.
Christopher Larue, 44, was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years and one day in prison followed by five years of supervised release and a $7,500 fine, after pleading guilty in October 2021 to charges of armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. 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 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 U.S. Attorney Jennifer 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 mis-fired 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.”
The case, which was initially charged in Bucks County but later transferred to federal court, began in October 2020 with the robbery of QNB Bank on Chestnut Street in Perkasie Borough.
According to a release by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, police were dispatched to the QNB Bank located along the 600 block of West Chestnut Street in Perkasie Borough at 8:19 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2020, for a report of a bank robbery. The release states that the robber — later identified as LaRue — produced a handgun and took two cash drawers from a safe. LaRue then unsuccessfully attempted to lock the employees in the safe, and then fled the scene, police said.
Several hours later, a state trooper who was investigating the robbery learned that the currency bag that was stolen from the bank had allegedly been located inside a mobile work trailer along the 400 block of Schuylkill River Road in Upper Merion Township, according to the criminal complaint. Upon arriving to the scene and making contact with LaRue, police observed a backpack in LaRue’s locker that matched one that was used during the robbery, the report states.
Police then attempted to place LaRue in handcuffs, at which point a struggle ensued, police said. During the struggle, LaRue allegedly pulled out a firearm from his locker, threatened to kill the trooper and repeatedly pulled the trigger, but the gun didn’t fire, the report states.
The trooper was able to gain control of LaRue, at which point he was disarmed and taken into custody.
“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 is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle L. Morgan.
See also:
Lansdale Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Possession, Criminal Trespassing and Assault
Montco Man Sentenced to Jail, Probation After Pleading Guilty to Child Porn Possession
Woman Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Ex-Boyfriend with Broken Bottle, Gets Probation
