Police arrest two men for Austin bank robberies
One of suspects was called 'Cowboy Bandit'

By Jeremy Schwartz

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Austin police have arrested two San Antonio men with links to the Mexican Mafia prison gang who police believe were responsible for a major chunk of Austin's recent spree of bank robberies.

Austin Police Chief Stan Knee Thursday morning said the two men, Ernest Rodriguez, 44, and Joe Rene Tamayo, 39, were responsible for at least six Austin bank robberies this year. Police said the men told them that they used the proceeds from their heists to feed their heroin addictions. Rodriguez is also suspected of bank robberies in Dallas and Corpus Christi.

The arrests, which occurred Wednesday, mean police have made apprehensions in 16 of the city's 22 bank robberies since the beginning of the year. The first three-and-a-half months of 2004 have seen four more bank robberies than occurred in all of 2003.

Rodriguez, dubbed the Cowboy Bandit for his choice of headgear during robberies, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after leaving the Travis County Credit Union downtown in what police say was an aborted robbery attempt. Three Austin police officers were waiting at the bank, and had been mobilized in response to police analyses of recent bank robberies, which indicated the Cowboy Bandit might strike on certain days and times.

Tamayo was arrested in San Antonio Wednesday night. Police believe the men often worked in tandem, with Tamayo driving the getaway car.

In all, police have arrested seven men in connection with bank robberies. Thomas Thompson, who is suspected in five bank robberies, also told police he robbed to support a heroin addiction.

Alright, our Buda branch staff will breath easier with this bunch of crack heads off the street.