A man who portrayed himself as a Kansas City Chiefs superfan on social media and at games robbed or attempted to rob numerous banks throughout last year in the South and Midwest, including the Twin Cities, according to newly unsealed charges.
K.C. Chiefs superfan went on bank robbery spree in many states, including Minnesota, charges allege
His attempted heists in Savage and Apple Valley yielded no loot, according to federal prosecutors.
July 13, 2023 at 2:41PM
Bank robbery charges filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Missouri allege that Xaviar M. Babudar, 29, of Overland Park, Kan., made off with more than $845,000 from six bank robberies but was stymied one day in late November when he came up empty during back-to-back attempted heists in Savage and Apple Valley.
In late December, Babudar was arrested and charged in Oklahoma with robbing a bank just outside of Tulsa. While out of jail on bond in March, he removed a monitoring bracelet from his ankle and was a fugitive until his capture July 7 near Sacramento, Calif., according to the district's U.S. Attorney's Office.
He appeared in court in Sacramento on Monday and remains in custody without bond. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
The complaint noted that Babudar has "in the past enjoyed a robust social media presence as a Kansas City Chiefs superfan" while on Twitter as @ChiefsAholic.
In a full wolf getup, Babudar was a regular presence at Chiefs home and road games. But after he missed the Chiefs' game in Houston on Dec. 18 against the Texans and his Twitter postings went dark, word spread among fans about his arrest two days earlier in Oklahoma following the bank robbery there, according to KMBC-TV in Kansas City.
Babudar attempted to launder the cash by buying more than $1 million of gambling chips at casinos in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas, then redeeming a similar amount, the charges read.
The first of Babudar's failed Twin Cities bank robberies occurred late on the morning of Nov. 29 at the Wings Financial Credit Union on Hwy. 13 in Savage, according to a police report cited in the federal complaint.
Wings employees said a masked man came in with a gun and demanded that they open the vault, "but upon seeing it only held small bills, the suspect left the bank on foot and fled the area," the charges read.
He also left without a dime under nearly identical circumstances early that afternoon, when he attempted to rob the Royal Credit Union on Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley.
Again, according to the charges, Babudar walked in with a gun and wearing a ski mask, jumped over the counter and ordered employees to open the vault. Seeing only small bills, he demanded $100 bills but was told that denomination was not kept in the vault.
"The suspect did not take any of the money from the vault and left," the complaint read.
The charges break down the six hold-ups prosecutors allege Babudar pulled off in 2022:
- March 2: Great Western Bank, Clive, Iowa,, $70,000.
- April 28: First National Bank, Omaha, $170,680 ($163,560 quickly recovered)
- July 13: First Class Credit Union, Des Moines, $303,845
- Nov. 17: Tennessee Federal Credit Union, Nashville, $125,900
- Nov. 30: First Interstate Bank, Clive, Iowa, $25,000
- Dec. 16: Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union, Bixby, Okla., $150,250
Babudar's arrest after the Oklahoma robbery was swift, the charges read.
Police in Bixby sealed off the area and "identified Babudar fleeing ... on a bicycle while carrying a large overstuffed bag," the complaint read.
Babudar tried to flee but was soon arrested. The bag he had contained all the money he stole from the Bixby bank and a weapon that was later determined to be a BB gun, the charges continued.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
