DENVER | A man who was convicted of pointing a gun at an Aurora Burger King drive-thru worker who wouldn’t accept drugs for payment and later shooting at other people elsewhere the same night has been sentenced to 143 years in prison.
Prosecutors who announced the sentence Thursday said the drive-thru incident was the beginning of a series of crimes Eugene Robertson carried out in Aurora on Oct. 17, 2022. No one was wounded.
In April, a jury found Robertson guilty of 17 crimes, including eight counts of attempted murder. The sentences for many of the crimes were stacked on top of each other, leading to a long sentence. Robertson, 40, had faced a maximum sentence of more than 400 years when he was sentenced Aug. 9.
“We consider this 143-year sentence justice for the multiple victims he put in fear that night. Jurors recognized the severity of the crimes this defendant committed. We believe the judge imposed an appropriate sentence,” Eric Ross, a spokesperson for 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner, said Friday.
The employee of the Burger King near Alameda Avenue and Buckley Road told police he believed he was going to be shot and killed after turning down Robertson’s offer of a baggie of drugs. Instead, Robertson drove away and pulled up to the 7-Eleven at the northwest corner of the intersection.
DA’s office spokesman Eric Ross wrote in an email that a baggie dropped by Robertson at the 7-Eleven and recovered by police, which contained about 5 grams of methamphetamine, resembled the baggie described by the drive-thru worker.
A witness later told police that, when Robertson entered the 7-Eleven, there seemed to be “something off” about him, and that Robertson was “talking about God” and carrying a Bible with a purple cover.
Robertson and the witness got into an argument, and Robertson again drew his handgun and pointed it at the head of a store employee. Robertson then shot a television screen that was displaying surveillance camera footage of the inside of the store.
The witness ran out through a side door and retrieved his own handgun from his car. When Robertson walked outside, he started shooting at the witness, who returned fire.
Following the brief gun battle, during which neither man was hit, Robertson fled the scene.
About 15 minutes after responding to the 7-Eleven shooting and less than an hour after they were called out to the Burger King, Aurora police officers were dispatched to yet another 911 call involving Robertson, this time from a woman who reported that her friend, “Eugene,” had just shot at her apartment.
The woman said Robertson knocked on her front door, and when she refused to open it, fired at the door twice. He also shot once through a sliding glass door into the woman’s apartment, where multiple people were present.
Robertson lived in the same apartment complex, which is located less than a mile from Alameda and Buckley. Officers found the Audi that witnesses had said was involved in the two previous incidents parked nearby.
While investigating the shooting at the complex, police spotted Robertson, who tried to escape on foot by running through a bush. When he emerged from the bush, an officer shot at him and missed. Robertson was then arrested.
“During his arrest, Eugene said he was not physically hurt, but his ‘feelings were hurt,’” the affidavit said.
When questioned by police, Robertson initially provided a false name and said he didn’t know what officers were talking about when they asked about the handgun that had been used in the incidents that evening.
Officers also learned that Robertson had an outstanding warrant in connection with a March 2021 case where Robertson was allegedly involved in a vehicle crash and shooting, fled the scene, removed or lost his pants and flagged down an Aurora police officer, who arrested him on suspicion of illegally possessing a firearm.
Police wrote in the arrest affidavit associated with that case that Robertson said he had consumed marijuana and alcohol prior to encountering officers, which would have been a violation of a prior Arapahoe County court order.
“Robertson also spontaneously uttered that he was wearing white Nike tennis shoes and blue jeans prior to our arrival,” the 2021 affidavit says.
The same affidavit mentions that Robertson had previously served an 84-month sentence for felony distribution of crack cocaine, making it illegal for him to possess a firearm.
Robertson’s 2021 case remains open, while his sentencing for the recent convictions is scheduled to take place Aug. 9.
“It’s a miracle no one was seriously hurt or killed,” prosecutor Taylor McCreary said in the Thursday news release from the DA’s office.
“This defendant endangered countless lives that night by recklessly firing a gun.”