Football Superfan Caught in California and Charged in $70,000 Bank Theft

Because the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ most important hype man, Xaviar Babudar, identified by followers as ChiefsAholic, attended almost each sport, at dwelling and away. Given the hefty value of soccer tickets, it was a high-flying life-style, which Mr. Babudar attributed to profitable warehouses he managed throughout the Midwest.

However the cash that funded Mr. Babudar’s travels, federal prosecutors say, seems to have come, partly, from a extra illicit supply. Mr. Babudar is accused of committing a string of financial institution robberies throughout at the least six states during the last yr, together with in Iowa, the place he’s accused of stealing $70,000.

Mr. Babudar, 29, was arrested close to Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, the place federal brokers charged him with one rely of financial institution theft and one rely of transporting stolen property throughout state traces, the USA Legal professional’s Workplace within the Western District of Missouri stated in a press release. It got here 4 months after he fled prosecution in Oklahoma in connection to a special financial institution theft.

That theft is one in all seven Mr. Babudar was accused of committing or making an attempt between April 2022 and December 2022, in response to courtroom paperwork unsealed on Monday. Prosectors stated Mr. Babudar had bought and redeemed greater than $1 million value of chips from casinos throughout the Midwest that gave the impression to be linked to the stolen cash. A grand jury will decide whether or not Mr. Babudar might be indicted on the extra prices, the assertion added.

Federal prosecutors in Missouri declined to touch upon Mr. Babudar’s case.

In December, Mr. Babudar was accused of robbing a credit score union in Tulsa, Okla., utilizing a pistol he aimed toward a teller’s face. He was launched in February after the bail bondsman, who was additionally a Kansas Metropolis Chiefs fan, agreed to put up Mr. Babudar’s $80,000 bail. A month later, the police stated he severed his ankle monitor and disappeared.

Tracy Tiernan, Mr. Babudar’s lawyer in Oklahoma, stated he had not been in touch with Mr. Babudar since.

“I nonetheless have had no communication in any respect with him aside from the 2 or three texts asking him the place he’s and pleading him to come back again,” Mr. Tiernan stated.

4 months after his escape, federal brokers discovered and arrested Mr. Babudar in California. He appeared on Tuesday afternoon within the U.S. District Court docket for the Japanese District of California, the place a choose ordered that he stay in custody with out bail till he could possibly be transferred again to Missouri. The date for the courtroom listening to has not been set, in response to a spokesman for the U.S. District Court docket in Missouri.

The Tulsa County district legal professional, Steve Kunzweiler, thanked federal brokers for locating and arresting Mr. Babudar and stated he nonetheless deliberate to pursue prosecution in Oklahoma. After Mr. Babudar escaped from a Tulsa jail, a choose had issued an arrest warrant and a brand new bond, this time set at $1 million.

“Tulsa County was the primary jurisdiction to arrest and cost Babudar in December 2022,” Mr. Kunzweiler stated. “My workplace will work with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the Western District of Missouri to find out the subsequent steps in holding him accountable,” he added.

For years, Mr. Babudar, identified for his exuberant persona and signature wolf costume, was a fixture at Kansas Metropolis Chiefs video games. He was featured often on N.F.L. broadcasts and had tens of hundreds of followers on Twitter below his deal with @ChiefsAholic. (The account is now run by a special consumer.)

However his look in a Tulsa jail in December, and his occurring the lam, punctured his picture as an enterprising, affable soccer fan. A brand new narrative introduced by legislation enforcement and prosecutors portrayed a rootless man residing in his automotive with a report of petty crimes like shoplifting.

“He had a foul hand dealt to him in life,” Mr. Tiernan stated, referring to Mr. Babudar. “He had no steerage from his father, and he struggled with homelessness. It was a terrifically tough local weather for a young person to endure.”