Photo provided Columbus police escort Robert Carl Christopher of Indianapolis to a police car after a foot chase leading to his arrest following an armed robbery of the Moose Lodge on Feb. 9, 2023, in downtown Columbus. Christopher will be sentenced April
A sentencing hearing has been postponed two weeks for a man suspected of robbing the Columbus Moose Lodge at gunpoint a little more than a year ago.
Robert Carl Christopher, 56, Indianapolis, had been scheduled to be sentenced Thursday afternoon by Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin. Online court records show Benjamin on Thursday ordered Christopher’s sentencing hearing date continued to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
Christopher pleaded guilty Nov. 14, 2023, to a count of Level 3 armed robbery for holding up the Moose Lodge, 330 Eighth St., Columbus. He will serve a 10-year prison sentence if Benjamin accepts the plea agreement between Christopher and prosecutors.
At approximately 12:38 p.m. Feb. 9, 2023, Columbus police officers responded to the lodge in response to a reported armed robbery that had just occurred.
Officers were told that a man, later identified as Christopher, robbed the business at gunpoint and fled on foot. Officers found Christopher a short time later walking in the 1000 block of Franklin Street. Police said officers recovered a firearm that Christopher had in his possession along with an undisclosed amount of money.
Christopher was booked into the Bartholomew County Jail and charged with two counts of Level 3 felony armed robbery and misdemeanor counts of interference with the reporting of a crime and resisting law enforcement. He was released on $25,000 cash bond on July 13, court records show.
