Mount Vernon Man Gets 8 Years For 2 Shootings, Carjacking

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A Mount Vernon man known as "Mad Max" will be going to federal prison for terrorizing his victims in Yonkers and the Bronx.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that 28-year-old Mount Vernon resident Christopher Smith, a/k/a "Christopher Johnson," a/k/a "Mad Max," a/k/a "Max," a/k/a "Trouble," was sentenced last week to eight years in prison for committing two shootings and an armed carjacking in Yonkers and the Bronx.

"Christopher Smith committed two dangerous shootings and an armed carjacking over the span of two months," Williams said. "He put New Yorkers’ lives in jeopardy and brazenly flouted the rule of law. This Office remains steadfast in its commitment to ending the scourge of gun violence on the streets of New York City and will continue to hold accountable those who endanger public spaces."

According to court documents, in September of 2022, Smith asked a group of men standing in front of a convenience store in Yonkers to sell drugs for him, but when they refused, he brandished a black handgun with a light blue handle.

The group of men then dispersed, and Smith and a friend drove away in the friend’s black Mercedes-Benz. About 30 minutes later, Smith and his friend drove back to the same area and found the group of men with whom Smith had gotten into an argument. After another altercation, Smith fired his gun twice near the group of men, and Smith and his friend sped off.

Around 30 minutes later, law enforcement stopped the vehicle in Mount Vernon. Although the friend was in the driver’s seat, Smith jumped onto his friend’s lap and attempted to drive the Mercedes-Benz into the police vehicle to flee. When that failed, law enforcement opened the driver’s side door and arrested the friend, but Smith fled the scene on foot with the gun in his pocket. After a 30-minute foot chase, Smith ran up to a 70-year-old woman who was leaving her church and placing her belongings into her Jeep. He shouted at the woman to give him her car keys, forcibly ripped they keys out of her hands, climbed into her Jeep, and sped off with her Jeep, as well as her other belongings.

In November of 2022, Smith was living in the Bronx, with a friend whom he had known for a decade. Smith argued with his friend over poor quality narcotics and left the apartment. Soon after, Smith reappeared on the outside balcony of the apartment with a black handgun with a light blue handle. Smith lifted the window screen, aimed his firearm through the window at his friend’s head, and fired one shot. The friend ducked and ran at Smith, who fled the scene.

In addition to prison, Smith was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, the NYPD, the Mount Vernon Police Department, the Yonkers Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda C. Weingarten and Katherine Cheng in charge of the prosecution.