The bank-robbing reign of the Santa Claus Bandit may be over. Authorities have captured a suspect who they believe is one of the most prolific bank robbers the area has seen in recent years.

Houston resident Patrick Bigelow, 44, was arrested Friday in Brookshire about a mile from a bank police say he intended to rob. Authorities had been staking out the bank since January 19 thinking the Santa Claus Bandit would strike. They say Friday their hunch paid off.

That afternoon, a bank employee taking a cigarette break outside spotted a man fitting the Bandit's description pull up to the bank. The suspect appeared to notice a large number of people in the bank's lobby, got back in his vehicle and drove off. But not before the employee phoned in a description and license plate to police. When the car was stopped, authorities arrested Bigelow, who they say, was trying to remove a fake beard.

The arrest set off a buzz of correspondence between law enforcement agencies in several Texas counties, all looking for the Santa Claus Bandit. One of those was College Station Police who suspected the Bandit was responsible for the January holdup of Citibank.

Bigelow was still in the Waller County jail Monday, but Brookshire police say he will likely be moved to a jurisdiction where a bank was actually robbed. Those include College Station, Giddings, Columbus, Schulenburg, and Sealy. In preparation, Giddings has already issued a probable cause arrest warrant for Bigelow and set his bail at $1 million. However, sources say federal charges could be filed by the FBI this week which would then supercede any local charges.