As the saying goes, the family that prays together, stays together. And the family that robs together… goes to jail together. At least that’s where a father, daughter and son trio found themselves last week after they were arrested on charges of robbing a credit union in Katy, Texas, ABC News reported. The familial crime syndicate may in fact be responsible for robberies at seven different banks in Texas and Oregon, according to authorities who spoke to ABC.
Fort Bend Sheriff’s Office deputies say surveillance tape traced the Oct. 1 credit union theft to Ronald Scott Catt, 50, his 20-year-old son Hayden and his 18-year-old daughter Abby. Ronald and Hayden allegedly entered the bank in disguises, wielded pistols and fled with the stolen money in a getaway car driven by Abby. Video from a local Home Depot shows the family purchasing orange vests that were worn during the heist, ABC reported.
The family had recently moved to Texas from Oregon, where both children were honor students and athletes. Eric Lundeen, a friend from McMinnville, Ore., told ABC that all the Catts were “really solid community members.”
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“He was a single dad,” Lundeen said of Ronald. “I think he lost his wife and he had the responsibility to take care of his kids and I got to tell you, he was there for them.”
Lundeen said the charges against the Catt family are “a complete shock.”
The Yamhill Valley New-Register found that Ronald divorced his wife of two years after she was convicted of domestic assault. An acquaintance told KATU that the father, who was arrested last year for allegedly driving without a valid license, recently lost his engineering job in Beaverton, Ore., and another position in Seattle.
Fort Bend authorities have already linked the clan to another stickup in Texas, and they suspect the Catts may be behind at least five others in Oregon, the Huffington Post reported.
Now, the family will get some more quality time together in Fort Bend County Jail, where Ronald and Hayden are held on $140,000 bonds and Abby’s has been set at $100,000, ABC News noted. Before their arrest, Texas Crime Stoppers offered a $25,000 reward for tips on tracking down the Katy bank robbers.
Other recent thieves have similarly tried to keep their criminal activities in the family. In August 2011, the Dougherty Gang — siblings Ryan, Dylan and Lee-Grace — embarked on a cross-country crime spree, during which they reportedly opened fire on police officers during a car chase after robbing a Georgia bank. The three were sentenced this April to between 18 and 32 years in prison.
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