KC Chiefs superfan charged in Midwest crimes now accused in California, Nevada bank robberies
A man widely known as a Kansas City Chiefs superfan and accused in a series of Midwest bank robberies is now accused of robbing banks in California and Nevada while on the lam for four months, including one in the Sacramento area.
Xaviar Michael Babudar, 29, of Overland, Kansas, is accused of robbing Heritage Bank on June 8 in Sparks, Nevada, and a U.S. Bank branch on July 3 in El Dorado Hills, according to documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
The man who gained social media fame as “ChiefsAholic” was arrested July 7 in the Placer County town of Lincoln, about 30 miles north of Sacramento. A federal judge in California last month ordered Babudar to remain in custody as he awaits trial.
Federal prosecutors submitted images captured on security cameras during the bank robberies in Nevada and California. They also submitted photos of clothes recovered July 10 from Babudar’s car, court documents say.
On Wednesday, Babudar appeared in federal court in Missouri. Babudar waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and the judge ordered his case bound over in federal court for grand jury action or other proceedings, court records show. The court ordered him to remain in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
A grand jury indictment would supersede the criminal complaint already filed against him.
Babudar was initially charged in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, with the robbery of the Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union on Dec. 16, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City, Missouri. He was released in February on bond pending trial in the Oklahoma bank robbery case.
Authorities have said Babudar became a fugitive in late March after cutting off a GPS anklet he was supposed to wear and leaving the area without permission. The device was found in a wooded area of Tulsa, The Kansas City Star reported.
Federal prosecutors allege that Babudar traveled throughout the Midwest committing a string of robberies at various banks and credit unions, laundering the stolen money through casinos and his money market savings account.
FBI investigators reviewed bank records, casino transaction records and sensitive financial reporting. Prosecutors said the FBI determined Babudar purchased and redeemed more than $1 million in chips from casinos in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois between April 2022 and December 2022.
The FBI also reviewed unsolved bank robberies throughout the Midwest during that time. Prosecutors said Babudar’s cell phone was placed in the same cities and locations for these previously unsolved bank robberies and attempted robberies.
In addition to the Tulsa County bank robbery in December, Babudar also has been charged in four bank robberies in Nebraska, Iowa, Tennessee and Oklahoma, along with attempted robberies of two credit unions in Minnesota.
The criminal complaint filed in federal court alleges Babudar stole $70,000 from Great Western Bank in Clive, Iowa, on March 2, 2022, then transported the stolen money to Missouri.
Prosecutors said Babudar — the wolf-costume-wearing Chiefs football fan — entered the Iowa bank wearing a ski mask and handed a teller a note demanding money and indicating he had a gun. The teller handed over $70,000.
Law enforcement officers later found $1,460 in $20 bills in the nearby woods, along with a glove believed to have been worn by Babudar during the bank robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The Kansas City Star’s Bill Lukitsch and Anna Spoerre contributed to this story.
