Metro Detroit man sentenced after attempting to use potato as silencer in armed robbery, attorney says
A 50-year-old Highland Park, Michigan, man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to three federal robbery-related charges.
According to U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, Christopher Lee Bey was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison. Bey previously pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery, use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm relating to an armed robbery, shooting and attempted armed robbery.
Federal officials say Bey entered a Boost Mobile in Pontiac on February 4, 2023, with a revolver and demanded money from a store employee. After the employee complied with his demands, Bey pulled a potato from his pants, placed it in front of the barrel of the gun and shot the employee twice in the stomach. He later told officials he attempted to use the potato as a silencer after watching a movie.
The Boost Mobile worker spent a month in the hospital recovering from their injuries, the attorney's office said.
On March 24, 2023, Bey went into a Dollar General in Pontiac and handed a store employee a note while pointing a gun at the employee. The attorney's office said he ordered the employee to the storeroom and told him to apply handcuffs to himself.
A customer accidentally entered the Dollar General storeroom and fought Bey, who then ran out of the store, officials say.
Citing court records, the attorney's office says law enforcement was able to identify Bey using images from his social media accounts. He was arrested on July 26, 2023.
"Mr. Bey is a sociopathic serial shooter who has consistently shown an inability to follow societal rules," James Deir, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Detroit division, said. "It most certainly sends a clear message: if you use a firearm to shoot an innocent member of our community, there is absolutely no limit on the resources ATF will expend to hunt you down and hold you accountable for your cowardly conduct."
