(HOUSTON, Texas) - Patrick Scott Bigelow, 44, has been indicted for car jacking a Fayetteville man and armed robbery of a College Station Citibank branch, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

A three count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Houston on Thurs., July 24, 2008. Bigelow is charged in count one with robbing a Citibank located on University Drive in College Station on June 30, 2008, while count two charges Bigelow with a car jacking that preceded the bank robbery. Count three charges Bigelow with using and brandishing a firearm during the car jacking.  

Bigelow, who had escaped from the Fayette County Jail on June 29, 2008, was arrested by deputies of the U.S. Marshal’s Service at a Houston area hotel on June 30, 2008 pursuant to a state warrant which had issued following his escape.  The same day, a federal criminal complaint was filed against Bigelow based upon an investigation conducted by the College Station Police Department, the Texas Rangers and the FBI, into robberies of two Citibank branch banks in College Station, Texas.  According to allegations in the complaint, on June 30 prior to his arrest, Bigelow had used a semi-automatic pistol to car jacked a Fayetteville man at a Fayetteville grocery store.  Bigelow allegedly forced the man to drive to a wooded area at gunpoint, tied him up using a rope from the man’s vehicle, and left him along the side of the road. Bigelow then drove the man’s Chevy Suburban to College Station where, according to the complaint, he attempted to rob a Citibank branch on Harvey Road and then robbed a second Citibank on University Drive.

Bigelow has been in federal custody since his arrest and has been ordered held without bond pending further criminal proceedings. 

The bank robbery count carries a maximum term of 20 years imprisonment, without parole, upon conviction. A conviction for car jacking carries a maximum term of 15 years imprisonment, without parole. The firearm charge carries a minimum term of seven years imprisonment which must be served consecutive to any prison term imposed for the underlying car jacking offense.  A maximum fine of $250,000 can also be imposed, upon conviction, for each of the three charges. The multi-agency investigation leading to the federal charges was conducted by the FBI, the Texas Rangers, the College Station Police Department and other area law enforcement agencies in multiple Texas counties. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ryan D. McConnell.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

 

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