A man who allegedly robbed a credit union while wearing a three-dimensional winter hat in the shape of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s mascot told police he needed money because he can’t afford the $250,000 in student debt he has accrued. He also expressed a desire to go to prison.
The suspect, 49-year-old Madison resident Randall H. Hubatch, allegedly entered the Summit Credit Union on Jan. 11 with the pompon-adorned Bucky Badger hat on his head and a plastic Star Wars toy gun in his pocket, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Hubatch handed a note to a teller asking for $500, an amount he chose because he thought it was small enough that the credit union would simply give to him.
He also warned the teller to act quickly and threatened to shoot anyone following him to his car.
Hubatch doesn’t own a car.
A Madison Police sergeant arrested him last Monday without incident, according to WKOW-TV27 in Madison. He was reportedly wearing the Bucky Badger hat at the time.
Hubatch was apparently living in a motel room at the time of his arrest. Police found a bus ticket in the room and an admission ticket to Chicago’s Field Museum in his pocket.
“If the district attorney agrees to send me to prison for a long time, then I will confess and plead guilty,” Hubatch told Madison police Detective Tom Helgren after his arrest, the State Journal reported. “Otherwise, I have nothing else to say, and if released I will do it again.”
According to the criminal complaint, Hubatch described himself as diabetic and “slightly autistic.” He said that he is unable to afford medication prescribed to him.
Hubatch earned a law degree at UW-Madison in 2004 and a bachelor’s degree in 1998. An online UW-Madison directory lists him is as a lead campus custodian.
