Montco Man Robbed Bank, Tried To Shoot State Trooper Monday: DA

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A Lansdale man is behind bars after robbing an area bank, and then attempting to fire his gun at a state trooper apprehending him later Monday in Upper Merion, authorities announced Tuesday.

Christopher Edward LaRue, 42, who was already convicted back in 2008 of numerous armed bank robberies across Montgomery County, entered the QNB Bank in Perkasie early Monday morning.

The Bucks County District Attorney's Office said he was wearing a dark ski mask and a hood covering his head when he entered the lobby and demanded cash.

LaRue told employees he did not want to hurt anyone, despite being armed with a small gray hand gun. One employee opened the bank vault while LaRue went around and confiscated the cell phones of the others, according to authorities.

The employee handed over two cash drawers with about $11,000 inside, police said. Before he left, LaRue tried to lock the rest of the employees inside the bank vault, but authorities said he was unsuccessful.

The ensuing investigation and tracing of the cash led police across Montgomery County to Upper Merion, where LaRue was stationed in a mobile construction trailer on Schuylkill River Road.

Inside, LaRue resisted when Pennsylvania State Trooper Thomas Yates tried to put him in handcuffs, according to the criminal complaint. During the scuffle LaRue grabbed a handgun, pointed it at Yates, and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, police said.

Yates was then able to subdue LaRue and take him into custody.

Authorities later found six rounds of ammunition in LaRue's weapon.

He was charged with attempted murder, robbery, and numerous other counts, and booked at Bucks County Correctional Facility. Bail was set at $1 million. A preliminary hearing is forthcoming.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Peter Blanchard