Crime
Man who pulled out gun when Burger King employee refused to accept drugs in exchange for payment will be sentenced to 143 years in prison
DENVER (AP) — A person convicted of pointing a gun at a Burger King fast-food employee who refused to accept drugs in exchange for payment after which shooting others that very same night has been sentenced to 143 years in prison.
Prosecutors who announced the sentence Thursday said the drive-by incident was the start of a series of crimes Eugene Robertson committed in the Denver suburb of Aurora on Oct. 17, 2022. No one was injured.
In April, a jury found Robertson guilty of 17 felonies, including eight attempted murders. The convictions for lots of the crimes overlapped, leading to a lengthy sentence. Robertson, 40, faced a maximum sentence of greater than 400 years when he was sentenced Aug. 9.
“We believe this 143-year sentence is fair to the many victims he scared that night. The jury recognized the seriousness of the crimes committed by the defendant. We believe the judge imposed an appropriate sentence,” Eric Ross, a spokesman for 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner, said Friday.
After Robertson pointed the gun on the drive-thru employee, prosecutors said he went right into a convenience store across the road and pointed the gun on the clerk’s head. When Robertson saw there was a surveillance camera system, he shot through the screen and exited, then fired at two people outside in the parking zone, Kellner’s office said.
Sentinel Colorado in Aurora earlier reported that a witness on the food market told police that there was “something wrong” with Robertson and that he was “talking about God” and had a purple-covered Bible with him.
That same night, a girl who was a friend of Robertson’s called 911 to report that he had fired shots after she refused to open the door to her apartment, where she was with several other people, prosecutors said.
Police spotted Robertson at the girl’s apartment complex. He hid behind bushes before being arrested, prosecutors said.