Puyallup robber who took his driver hostage and was shot by police has been sentenced

Jay Maria Christensen understood that he was going to prison for many years.

“I know I’m going to get a lot of time,” he told Superior Judge Kathryn Nelson on Tuesday before she gave him a high-end sentence of 34 years, six months.

The 39-year-old Christensen said he robbed a Denny’s restaurant at 626 S. Hill Park Drive in Puyallup in 2016 and that he knew it was wrong.

“I feel very bad about that,” he said. “... I (expletive) up. Excuse my language, but I messed up.”

A Puyallup police officer ultimately shot Christensen in the head after his getaway vehicle crashed and Christensen tried to take the driver hostage an gunpoint, Pierce County prosecutors said.

That led jurors earlier this year to convict Christensen of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery, trying to elude police, obstructing police, second-degree assault, two counts of unlawful gun possession, two counts of unlawful possession of a short-barreled shotgun and felony harassment.

They acquitted him of a second felony harassment charge.

Christensen held up the restaurant at gunpoint about 2 a.m. Oct. 19, 2016. Prosecutors said he threatened to start killing customers when an employee had trouble opening the register.

Then he fled with the cash in a truck driven by Steven Mikeal Sommer, and they led police on a high-speed chase.

Sommer lost control and crashed into a highway support under state Route 512.

Christensen pointed a shotgun at Sommer as officers approached, which is when officer Zach Kenyon shot Christensen in the head.

Sommer later told police that he didn’t know the robbery was going to happen and that Christensen had threatened him and his family if he didn’t run from police.

The 42-year-old ultimately pleaded guilty to trying to elude police and to drug possession.

He’s serving a year and 10 months behind bars.

Prosecutors also accused Christensen of holding up the Shell gas station at 6615 Wollochet Drive NW in Gig Harbor on Sept. 15, 2016.

Christensen argued Tuesday that he did not get a fair trial and took issue with some of the charges against him.

“At no time do I believe I was guilty of kidnapping,” he told Nelson.

Deputy prosecutor Terry Lane asked the judge for a longer sentence, arguing that the standard range was too lenient.

“Every step of the way the defendant put other lives in danger,” as well as his own, Lane said.

He also spoke about Christensen requiring the officer to use lethal force.

“Yes, that’s part of his job, but it’s not part of the job that any officer should have to go through,” Lane said.

Officer Kenyon also addressed the court.

“He victimized a lot of innocent people that morning,” he told the judge. “.... Mr. Christensen forced my hand in this situation.”

Defense attorney Barbara Corey told the court that Christensen was remorseful for his actions and grateful that he didn’t die.

He had to learn to walk again after the shooting and has had seizures and vision problems, she said.

Corey argued for a lesser sentence and said the state was recommending more prison time than someone might get for murder convictions.

“These are robberies,” she said. “These are not homicides.”

She acknowledged that Christensen has criminal history going back to 1998, but she told the judge that he hasn’t had much trouble in recent years and that his past crimes have not been violent.

“It peters out, and he was actually doing quite well,” she said.

Then “he lapsed into drug use” and made poor choices, she told the court.

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Puyallup robber who took his driver hostage and was shot by police has been sentenced."