U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a convicted felon from Butler County, Missouri who threatened both a driver and bar patrons with a gun to 66 months in prison.
Donald Edward Christie Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. As part of his plea, he admitted possessing a firearm on two occasions on Feb. 12, 2022.
The first was reported to the Butler County Sheriff’s Department about 15 minutes past midnight. A driver said they were followed from a gas station by someone the driver believed to be a law enforcement officer in an SUV. After the victim pulled over, the SUV driver exited with what appeared to be an AK-style rifle, chambered a round, and demanded that the victim turn off their vehicle and provide ID. The gunman returned, gave back the victim’s ID, and said, “You never saw me, and I never saw you,” the plea agreement says.
About 30 minutes later, deputies received another call, this time from a rural bar reporting a man brandishing a firearm. When deputies arrived, they found bar patrons holding Christie down. Witnesses told deputies that he’d entered the bar and become confrontational with the occupants. He had a pistol in his pocket and the bartender asked him to leave. Christie said that he had a “machine gun” in his vehicle and was going to get it and kill them, the plea says.
The bartender tried to hold the door shut when Christie returned, but he pushed his way inside. Using what appeared to be a rifle, Christie ordered the occupants to move behind the bar. He was taken down from behind by a patron, and patrons and the bartender disarmed him. He was in possession of a 9mm Striborg SP9A3 semi-automatic pistol with a brace, which resembled a short-barreled rifle or submachine gun, and a Bryco .380-caliber pistol.
The case was investigated by the Butler County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis prosecuted the case.
