‘Bigggggg Mike’ captured in Iowa

Michael Moses Tarpeh, the wanted man who refers to himself as Bigggggg Mike, was arrested in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Tuesday, according to a U.S. Marshal.

Iowa convenience store and gas station clerk Beckie Hytrek facilitated the arrest after spotting Tarpeh driving away without paying for gas, according to a local Iowa news source, ketv.com. Hytrek wrote down his license plate number and called The Iowa State Patrol, who arrested him along Interstate 80 near Underwood. The patrol said he was driving a stolen car.

The UConn Police Department has warrants pending for Tarpeh’s arrest after Tarpeh was charged with credit card theft that occurred in an on-campus apartment. In addition to charges of theft, Tarpeh is wanted by the Morgantown, W. Va. Police Department for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault. He is also wanted by Massachusetts State Police for an armed carjacking, robbery and assault and battery of a motorist in Lee, Mass.

The Lantern, Ohio State University’s student newspaper, reported that Tarpeh was apprehended while driving a stolen car, according to an email from Ohio State Police Chief Paul Denton. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa has him in custody.

“Bigggggg Mike’s in custody,” said Brad Fleming, Deputy U.S. Marshal at the U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of Ohio, according to The Lantern. “He was arrested [Tuesday]. He’s in custody now in Iowa.”

According to a UConn email alert sent out to students, the victims of Tapeh’s on-campus theft identified him as the person they invited into their apartment and then stole several items, including credit cards, while they were sleeping on Feb. 24.

Tarpeh resurfaced near the Ohio State University Campus on Feb. 26, and university police issued a public safety notice the following day informing the campus that Tarpeh was a “dangerous wanted person who may be in the campus area,” according to The Lantern.

Fleming told The Lantern that Tarpeh was taken back to the jurisdictions in which he’s charged, like UConn, and didn’t think Tarpeh would be making another stop in Ohio.