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An escaped inmate who authorities described as a serial bank robber was in federal custody Monday after a morning crime spree that included two College Station bank robberies and a kidnapping in Fayetteville, officials said.
Patrick Bigelow, 44, was detained after a daylong manhunt that led federal, state and local authorities from the Fayette County Jail, to an abandoned lot in Hempstead, to a pair of College Station Citibank branches, then a Blinn College parking lot in Bryan before his arrest at a Houston hotel room off Interstate 45.
After almost 26 hours on the run, an exhausted-looking Bigelow was disarmed and taken into custody by agents with the U.S. Marshals Service.
Monday's bank crimes bring the total robberies in which Bigelow is a suspect to eight since mid-2007, including three in College Station, according to Houston-based FBI spokeswoman Thayer Cassy. The first bank hit Monday was the Citibank on Harvey Road, which is the same spot authorities said Bigelow robbed six months ago. He has not been charged in that case.
The Houston man who was awaiting trial on several bank robbery charges in Fayette County has a significant criminal history and served time in state and federal prisons, authorities said, adding that he was placed on parole in April 2007.
Investigators from College Station and Bryan police departments, along with the Texas Rangers, FBI, Fayette County and Harris County, said they still were looking into how Bigelow covered so much ground Monday and why he targeted College Station. Other arrests may be forthcoming if officers determine that he received outside help.
The spree started at 11:07 a.m. Sunday when Bigelow overpowered a female security guard at the Fayette County Jail, took her key and escaped, authorities said. State and federal agents began searching the area that is about 75 miles from Brazos County and sent notices to law enforcement agencies in the region.
Bigelow, who had been jailed for the past month on $300,000 bail, is accused of conducting many of the robberies while wearing a fake beard as a disguise, leading authorities to give him the moniker "the Santa Claus Robber." He was not wearing such a disguise Monday, police said.
A lieutenant at the Fayette County Sheriff's Office said investigators believe Sunday's escape was premeditated and that Bigelow had a getaway car waiting for him outside the jail. The car authorities said he used was later found at Bigelow's mother's house in Katy. It was unclear who owned the vehicle.
Fayette County authorities said Bigelow kidnapped a Fayetteville man early Monday morning, held him at gunpoint and then drove the man's car to Hempstead, about 50 miles from College Station, where Bigelow left him unharmed.
Bigelow continued to College Station, arriving at the Citibank on Harvey Road just after the bank opened at around 9 a.m., police said. Inside the bank, he told a 70-year-old teller that he had a gun and would shoot her if he did not give her the money in her cash register drawer, College Station police said.
Police said the drawer was empty at the time and Bigelow fled the premises. No customers were inside the bank during the robbery, police said.
Eleven minutes later, Bigelow entered the Citibank several miles away on University Drive and told another teller to give him the money from the register, police said. After giving Bigelow an undisclosed amount of cash, the teller reached to push an alarm button, but Bigelow grabbed her arm and threatened to shoot her, police said.
A few customers were inside at the time of the second robbery, but again no one was harmed.
"He was very quiet and discreet and the other people in the bank didn't even know what was happening until afterwards," said College Station Master Officer Rhonda Seaton.
Workers at both Citibank locations declined to comment, citing company policy.
Authorities in the region were put on "high alert" and urged to be on the lookout for a white suburban -- the car that police said Bigelow stole from the Fayetteville man.
At around 11 a.m., a Bryan police officer searching the Blinn College parking lot off 29th Street found the car and called for backup. Two officers approached the car with guns drawn but found no one inside.
College Station and Bryan police investigators, as well as troopers from the Department of Public Safety, swept in to canvas the area.
"We had every live warm body with a badge looking for this guy," said Bryan police spokeswoman Officer Lesley Malinak.
Scent-tracing dogs tracked Bigelow's movement from the car to the adjacent Joseph Drive, a private road that cuts between the junior college's parking lot and St. Joseph Regional Rehabilitation Center. His scent disappeared at the side of the road, causing concern from police that he either kidnapped another victim or boarded a bus.
Police said they found a ski mask and a camouflage jacket worn during one of the robberies inside the car.
Investigators said late Monday that they still were piecing together what Bigelow did after abandoning the car, and would say only that he was found in the motel room by U.S. Marshals at around 1 p.m. U.S. Marshals frequently are called to help track escaped inmates.
Authorities said they were approaching his room as Bigelow opened the motel door to exit. He then turned to run back inside but was detained without further incident, they said.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Alfredo Perez would not disclose how they located Bigelow at the motel. Bigelow, who had a pistol, was alone inside the room, Perez said.
Investigators said they believe Bigelow is responsible for robberies in Sealy, Giddings, Brookshire, Columbus and Shulenburg.
He also is the main suspect of the robbery of the Citibank on Harvey Road on Jan. 22. No charges have been filed against Bigelow in that robbery. Sgt. Brandy Norris of the College Station Police Department said the investigation had been transferred to the FBI.
Bigelow was convicted in 1985 for conspiracy to possess stolen U.S. mail and was charged with "committing the offense of escape" three years later after failing to return to a rehabilitation facility after checking out for work, court records show. He was arrested three days after the escape following a car chase, according to court documents. He has served time for burglary of a habitation and car theft in Harris County.
Bigelow was being held in Harris County on Monday night without bail. A warrant in Brazos County was signed on one count of robbery and one count of aggravated robbery. Aggravated robbery is a first-degree felony punishable by between five and 99 years in prison. A robbery can ne punished with between two and 20 years in prison. Both crimes carry a fine of up to $10,000. More charges from several different agencies are pending.
• Matthew Watkins' e-mail address is matthew.watkins@ theeagle.com.
