Somebody with a mask, sunglasses, and a hat is trying to come up in here with presents. >> Merry Christmas. Hi, how are you? Good, good, good. >> Good. >> Got gifts. Put them in there. Nothing funny, no video cameras. Fill it up. Good luck. >> pretty bad situation on medical call 1718 Ocean Avenue. >> I'll know as soon as somebody does something. Once I leave, no worries. Where are you on the computer? >> You want me to watch you do it while I'm doing that? >> Mhm. >> Who is this? >> 911 >> Thank you, ma'am. >> You okay? Showing a 65-year-old female. >> And then I'll go back to your question. >> Quickly, please. Sorry for the distress. >> What's going on, man? >> Pretty good. >> We got this. You got to get this under control. >> So, what what happened? >> Uh guy walked around from the drive-thru and the tellers alerted me and said somebody with a mask is coming in with Christmas presents. He walked in, walked straight up, and said to put every you know, whatever in the bag. And then he said, "Sorry for the distress." As he walked out, a bunch of cash fell and he just kept going. And then he walked across the street. >> They said he ran towards here. 4350 just be advised myself and the deputy are coming from behind Texas Mattress through the woods that way. He would have had to ran somewhere back here. >> Did the guy look black, white, Hispanic? >> Completely covered. Just by his voice he seemed middle-aged, but I couldn't tell. >> Oh, yeah. >> You hit a distress dispenser. >> Yeah, right there. >> And it only dispenses a X number of bills. >> The male subject was wearing a Christmas hat, looks like some black tennis shoes with uh white bottoms. I've got a few. I can't tell if these are animal prints or Maybe. Looks like the top part of a shoe. You see if they're >> Yeah, that's That's a shoe. That means he went across. >> He had to have a car over there. He didn't just Do we know what the amount yet? >> Half off. >> That's what she just printed out. >> 6,000. >> 6,000. >> That's our emergency dispenser. >> He honestly had to cuz I was right here. I was at a the car wash on 11th. So, he had to go straight through. >> Here's a >> Why do I feel like I know him, B? >> I don't know. >> He sounded familiar. >> He did a good job covering himself up. I can't even see any gaps. >> Wearing some Sauconys. I think I can tell that. >> Those shoes >> Yeah, looks like Sauconys. >> I can print you a copy of her driver's license as well. >> Nah, >> I ain't trying to get her for a credit. >> That's our driver's credit too. >> I'm just saying. >> And he had what sounded like a police radio on him. >> He's got a radio? >> He has a radio. >> radio on him? >> Like what kind of radio? >> Like it sounded like y'alls. >> Good. >> It's got a scanner. >> Mhm. Kudos to you for remembering your emergency expenses. >> We just talked about that the other day. >> Really? >> Yeah, I'm just extra. >> Okay, cool. >> All right, I'll go buy a USB and then >> Ain't nothing wrong with being extra. >> I don't know if I have it. >> exactly on the floor. >> Okay. >> There's three exactly on the floor. So, you got away with three? >> I'm Yeah. >> So, there's 3,000 on the floor. >> We both said 3,000. So, we both said 3,000. >> Okay. So, 6,000. >> He's got like a Christmas flowering bag in the middle of the woods. >> I don't know if that's his stuff. >> So, he's on foot. He don't even have a car. >> Man, I don't know. >> Huh? >> He may have a car somewhere, but he didn't He didn't keep it. And their cameras cut off to see if he went over to AutoZone or something, but I don't think his car is anywhere around. >> I don't know if he's that much on foot. >> It's the shoes that's going to get him away. Cuz that suit he can ditch real quick. >> Yeah, but the shoes The shoes is what's going to get him. >> Do you think he's local? >> There's no way that you're that you're going to show up at a place and not be prepared and be on foot and not have any help to get out the way. It got to be >> The officer's hunch was supported by the fact that beyond the wooded area where the suspect was last seen, there is a large residential neighborhood in the heart of town. Huntsville Police Department circulated the suspect's photo on Facebook, and 4 days later, they received a break in the case. >> Steven, I knew him from working with him a lot at that job. He was He was a kitchen man for That's how I knew him to begin with. So, we were hanging out a lot at that time, and I noticed hanging out with him, I figured out real quick he was a kleptomaniac. Like he would be stealing random and I'd be like, "What are you doing? Why are you doing that?" You know, he'd be stealing stuff all the time. And then shortly after that, he he robbed the college. And he came and told me about it. I was like What? And then I was like, "Well, you got to go do that stuff back." >> He's sober. That's the part. He's sober. He's just crazy. >> But he brought up right away the Berry Branch True Value. Like with the robbery that I heard about it. And I had actually lied to him. I said, "No, I hadn't heard about it." So he could tell me about it just to see what he'd say. Anyways, one of the things like I said on the news that I read, I've read a bunch of them on different pages like the Huntsville item. One of the things that he he mentioned was like how the robber came up to the >> bank. >> Okay, well that's not even the description at all. That Santa Claus hat, he got it from La Mesita Home. Two years ago, La Mesita when they had their Christmas when the restaurant opened, he had bought a bunch of Santa Claus hats for everybody >> who worked up there during the holiday season. >> Cool. >> Yeah, right. In fact, if you don't mind if I show you real quick on his Facebook, he's wearing that hat. That same one. I've looked at it in another picture. >> Yeah, I saw that one. >> Yeah. Now, I'm not saying 100%, you know, this could all be coincidence, but it'd be a hell of a coincidence. >> He said >> "Either my life's going to end growing a garden or it's going to end in a shootout with the cops." And I'm like, "Where did that come from?" I was like, >> "What are you talking about?" >> He said it it it his life's going to end with a shootout with the cops? >> That's what he said. That or with his garden or shootout with the cops. >> I've seen this guy getting in a fight at our pool, he didn't fight. He just let the guy beat him up. >> For nearly 3 hours, undercover sheriff's deputies in plain clothes surveyed David's home about a quarter mile away from the bank while officers acting as backup waited down the street for the deputies to make their move. >> Ryan, what's up? >> Does he got him on the porch? >> I think so. The guy keeps staring at him. Yeah, Ringo already jumped out. >> Yeah, he did. >> Hey, getting EMS to our location. >> You good, bud? >> Okay, come on. >> You're lucky you're still breathing. >> No. >> Yeah. >> You good? >> Yeah. >> You good, bro? >> Is he bleeding? >> No, it's me. >> Yeah. >> Double lock these. >> 14th Street, white male bleeding from the face. >> On your knees under. There we go. I'm going to stand you up. >> Jackson, is everybody secure? >> Listen to me. You're going to cooperate or we walk down. Do not cooperate. Get a marked unit that we under. POLICE CAR HEY, HANDS UP! HANDS UP! HANDS UP! STAND UP! >> HE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS. >> OKAY, shut the [ __ ] up. Stand up. Come to me. >> Get him by asking behind us. >> Come to me. >> I'm passing to you. >> Are you armed? >> Clear back here. >> What's it? >> Good. >> I'm going to plug this. >> Okay, you got it. >> On the floor. >> Uh I'll hold this. Clear. Just stay right here. POLICE DEPARTMENT. POLICE. CLEAR. CLEAR. >> GOOD, RYAN. >> CLEAR. CLEAR. CLEAR. Is that my car beeping? >> I think so. >> I got a unit coming behind me. >> Do you know the score? >> Yeah, right there. Do you have anything on you that's going to stick me or hurt me? >> I don't think I have anything in my pocket. >> 101.7 >> What's going on? Hey, man. >> Can we see your friend? >> Is that your truck back there? >> I think so. >> You got a key on you? >> I don't think so. >> Hey, hey, is Black George >> You okay? >> No. >> I don't eat chicken ramen. >> Yeah, I we we had him. I was going to bring him to get medical and have them clean him up. >> Do we have anything on him or can we handcuff him? >> No, we >> I can smell it from here. >> Okay. >> Yeah, he knows >> Yeah, he's got to go get that. We got to search him, so >> Yeah. >> You can't You can't come back in. >> Yeah. >> What is >> Tell all his friends he got some blood on his shirt, real >> I hit the gun. I hit the gun, got it off of him, got the gun, and got the gun and hit him. >> Ringo came up there, I came up here, I was going to rob him. He was going to pistol >> And Ringo came up and he stepped on >> I'm like, hit him on the >> All right, take a seat. >> Get arrested? >> Nope. >> Didn't see it? >> Nope. >> So, you were just playing video games as this was going on? >> Yep. >> Heard it, tuned out. Dialed in. >> I think we're good now. >> Yeah, he tried Yeah, he tried to tried to get Ringo's gun. >> Oh, I believe that. >> But he got hit in the face with the rifle a couple times. >> Hey, man. >> I'm a paramedic. >> I apologize. We were coming. >> I know y'all were, man. >> Yeah, man, we we got made where there's nothing else we could do. >> I know. I know. >> The suspect, identified as 36-year-old David Rodriguez, was taken to a hospital 40 minutes away due to his injuries. After he was medically cleared for booking, he was transported back to Walker County Jail and charged with two counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer, taking a weapon from an officer, and resisting arrest. In all, his bail totaled just over $1 million. The two charges of aggravated assault against a peace officer were dismissed. However, he was found guilty of taking a weapon from an officer and both counts of robbery. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which he is currently serving at the Gibb Lewis Unit. David went up for parole in 2025. However, the Board of Pardons and Parole denied his release due to the nature of his offense, his previously unsuccessful periods of community supervision, and his criminal history, which included multiple convictions of public intoxication, theft, and burglary. David is up for parole review again in November 2028, but if denied, he could be in prison until 2038. David made the mistake of committing his crimes in a town with a diverse and extensive law enforcement presence, especially for a town with fewer than 50,000 people. Numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies operate within city limits and frequently work in coordination with each other. For instance, Huntsville is also the headquarters of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which oversees the administration of all Texas prison facilities. TDCJ tracking dogs were deployed to sniff out David's trail after the robbery and pointed officers in the general direction of David's home. TDCJ also partners closely with Sam Houston State University, also located in Huntsville, which is home to one of the highest ranked criminal justice programs in the country. Huntsville Police Department also maintains strong support within much of the community. The first investigator on scene after the robbery, Officer Broderick Davis, was honored at the Huntsville Item Readers' Choice Awards as the best law enforcement officer in 2023 and again in 2026. All of these factors add up to Huntsville, Texas potentially being the worst small town in America to rob a bank.