Bank robbery suspect fatally shot by Broward deputies identified

Robert Gene Bigney spent two decades in prison for robbing a bank in 1995. The police chase, car crash and shooting that happened in South Florida on Monday morning mirrored the aftermath of the crime Bigney committed nearly 30 years ago.

Sheriff Gregory Tony told reporters at the scene of the shooting that the man drove recklessly through Pompano Beach and “presented a firearm” at deputies after getting out of the wrecked car in the area of Northeast Fourth Avenue and East Atlantic Boulevard.

Tony told reporters at the scene that about four deputies shot at the man. Bigney, 63, died.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an email Monday night that the man who deputies shot was the same person who robbed the TD Bank branch in Oakland Park earlier in the day. The agency did not release additional information about the robbery.

The Sheriff ’s Office identified Bigney as the person involved in Monday’s incident but has not identified the deputies and did not release additional information Tuesday.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting at the Sheriff ’s Office request, Gretl Plessinger, an FDLE spokesperson, said in an email.

Broward County court records show Bigney was arrested in 1977 on a charge of soliciting to commit armed robbery, in 1978 on a charge of carrying a concealed firearm and in 1979 on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and drug-related charges.

By 1985, Bigney, then in his mid 20s, was a convicted felon. He was arrested on charges of robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in Palm Beach County, court records show.

Years later, he was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in federal prison after robbing the Admiralty Bank in Jupiter in September 1995, according to federal court records. Armed with a revolver, Bigney took just over

$5,000.

The chase after the 1995 robbery went similarly to Monday’s, according to newspaper reports from the time.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that Bigney fled from police for 45 minutes that morning, “complete with gunshots and car crashes before being arrested as he tried to swim across a Riviera Beach canal.” A high-ranking Jupiter Police officer died of a heart attack during the chase.

Bigney showed a gun to a bank teller and demanded money, the newspaper reported. Officers shot at Bigney’s car twice, but both bullets missed him. He was arrested after crashing the car, jumping out and diving into a canal.

In November 1995, Bigney, then 36 years old, used a weight-lifting bar to escape from a window in the Palm Beach County Jail’s recreation room, running free for 14 minutes before he was captured.

The Sun Sentinel reported at the time that Bigney had an “extensive criminal history” and was being held in the jail on bank robbery charges for the FBI and the U.S. Marshals in a wing where less violent inmates were kept.

Bigney was released in January 2016 and was back before a federal judge not long after for violating the terms of his supervised release, according to court records, by testing positive for methamphetamine in November 2016 and for leaving his home unauthorized in December 2016.

At a hearing in April 2017, Defense Attorney Fletcher Peacock told the judge that Bigney was a man who struggled with ADHD who self medicated and had successfully completed a treatment program after his release. Bigney was attempting to turn his life around, the defense attorney said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

“It’s a very difficult illness not only to diagnose, but also to treat and to get it under control,” the defense attorney told the judge, according to the transcript. “Mr. Bigney was institutionalized for 20 years and it’s very difficult to come out of an institutional setting like that and then all of a sudden be expected to walk the straight and narrow.”

Bigney’s brother-inlaw told the judge that Bigney was working for his construction company and was an “excellent” employee who made a change after his time in prison. Bigney had “serious problems” when he wasn’t taking medication for his mental disorder, his brother-in-law said at the 2017 hearing, according to the transcript.

Bigney’s sister told the judge her brother took care of their elderly mother by cooking for her, cleaning and doing household chores. His mother was looking forward to him coming back home.

“All I can tell you is what I’ve seen and how he is and I couldn’t ask for anybody that takes better care of her than he does,” Bigney’s sister said at the hearing.

Federal prosecutor Carmen Lineberger said at the hearing that Bigney hadn’t proved during his supervised release that he could follow the law. Lineberger said his drug tests were positive 17 times, and he had attempted to tamper with the urine tests by adding bleach to the bottles, according to the transcript. Prosecutors asked the judge to incarcerate Bigney for another two years and more time on supervised release.

“Let him prove to the court and his family that he can do the right thing because right now, he’s just skating,” Lineberger said at the hearing, according to the transcript. “He’s using ADHD as a crutch ...”

The judge had little faith that Bigney could make a change.

“He’s terrific while he’s in the residential treatment program,” the judge said. “As soon as he gets out, he jumps off the cliff.”

The judge sentenced him to two more years in federal custody. He was released in October 2018, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records.