As the main hype man for the Kansas City Chiefs, Xaviar Babudar, known to fans as ChiefsAholic, attends almost every game, home and away. Because of the huge price of football tickets, it was a high-flying lifestyle, which Mr. Babudar attributed to the successful warehouses he managed throughout the Midwest.
But the money that funded Mr. Babudar’s trips, federal prosecutors said, appeared to have come, in part, from a more illicit source. Mr. Babudar is accused of committing a string of bank robberies in at least six states in the past year, including Iowa, where he is accused of stealing $70,000.
Mr. Babudar, 29, was arrested near Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, where federal agents charged him with one count of bank robbery and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines, the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri said in a statement. It comes four months after he fled prosecution in Oklahoma in connection with another bank robbery.
This robbery is one of the seven Mr. Babudar is accused of committing or attempting to commit the crime between April 2022 and December 2022, according to court documents unsealed Monday. Prosecutors said Mr. Babudar purchased and redeemed more than $1 million worth of chips from casinos throughout the Midwest that appeared to be connected to the stolen money. A grand jury will determine whether Mr. Babudar will be charged with additional charges, the statement added.
Federal prosecutors in Missouri declined to comment on Mr. Babudar’s case.
In December, Mr. Babudar was accused of robbing a credit union in Tulsa, Okla., using a handgun that he pointed in the face of a teller. He was released in February after the bail bondsman, who is also a Kansas City Chiefs fan, agreed to post the $80,000 bail of Mr. Badura. A month later, police said he cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared.
Tracy Tiernan, lawyer of Mr. Babudar in Oklahoma, said that he has not been contacted by Mr. Babudar since then.
“I still have no communication with him other than two or three texts asking him where he is and begging him to come back,” said Mr. Tiernan.
Four months after his escape, federal agents found and arrested Mr. Badura in California. He appeared Tuesday afternoon in US District Court for the Eastern District of California, where a judge ordered that he remain in custody without bail until he is transferred back to Missouri. A date for the court hearing has not been set, according to a spokeswoman for the US District Court in Missouri.
The Tulsa County district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler, thanked federal agents for finding and arresting Mr. Babudar and said he still plans to pursue the prosecution in Oklahoma. After escaping Mr. Babudar was released from jail in Tulsa, a judge issued an arrest warrant and a new bond, this time set at $1 million.
“Tulsa County was the first jurisdiction to arrest and charge Babudar in December 2022,” Mr. Kunzweiler said. “My office will work with the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri to determine the next steps in holding him accountable,” he added.
Over the years, Mr. Babudar, known for his lively persona and signature wolf costume, is a fixture at Kansas City Chiefs games. He is regularly featured on NFL broadcasts and has thousands of Twitter followers under his handle @ChiefsAholic. (The account is now run by a different user.)
But his appearance at a Tulsa jail in December, and his going on the lam, tarnished his image as a passionate, welcoming football fan. A new account presented by law enforcement and prosecutors describes a homeless man who lives in his car with a record of petty crimes like shoplifting.
“He’s been dealt a bad hand in life,” Mr. Tiernan said, referring to Mr. Babudar. “He had no guidance from his father, and he struggled with homelessness. It was a very difficult climate for a teenager to endure.â€