A man police believe had connections to a robbery at the Austin Telco Federal Credit Union in Bastrop Wednesday was arrested in eastern Travis County on aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon charges stemming from an incident reported earlier that day in Austin, according to an affidavit released by the Austin Police Department Friday morning.
According to officials, officers, with the assistance of Travis County deputies and SWAT, arrested 25-year-old Ronnie Worthy Wednesday afternoon at a home in the 15100 block of Sabal Palm Road in eastern Travis County, where he was taken into custody without incident.
According to the affidavit, Worthy allegedly approached a woman parking a black SUV on the second level of the St. David’s Hospital parking lot near 32nd Street in Austin around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. As the woman began to exit her vehicle, Worthy allegedly pointed a semi-automatic pistol at her and demanded she get back in the vehicle, the report said.
Worthy then allegedly exited the parking garage and drove to a separate parking lot near Medical Arts Boulevard and 31st Street, where he demanded oral sex from the victim, according to the affidavit. The victim refused and was reportedly punched in the face before showing Worthy her bank ATM card and promising cash, prompting him to exit the parking lot and drive to the Wells Fargo Bank on Red River Street, according to the report.
Upon arriving to the bank, the victim exited the vehicle after convincing Worthy that she could not withdraw cash unless she used the ATM, the affidavit said. After allegedly being told by Worthy she would be shot if “she did anything stupid,” the victim ran into the bank screaming for help, causing Worthy to reportedly flee the scene in the black SUV, according to the affidavit.
A short time later, Bastrop Police Department officers responded to reports of a bank robbery at the Austin Telco Federal Credit Union in Bastrop. An armed suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash and was witnessed leaving the scene in a black SUV heading eastbound on TX 71, Bastrop police officials said.
Bastrop officers, with the assistance of Bastrop County sheriff’s officials, then located an abandoned black SUV in an apartment complex. The vehicle’s VIN number matched the number provided to Austin police officers by the alleged victim in connection with the incident in Austin, according to the affidavit.
Authorities with the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office, Bastrop Police Department, Department of Public Safety, Travis County Sheriff’s Office and were then able to track the money stolen from the bank robbery to the home on Sabal Palm Road, where authorities made the arrest, according to the affidavit.
Bastrop Police Department Chief Steve Adcock confirmed that the department is pursuing a federal charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon against Worthy for his alleged connection with the robbery at Austin Telco Federal Credit Union.
The department is able to pursue the federal charges in lieu of state charges because of the credit union’s federal status, and charges were still pending as of Friday morning, said Adcock.
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