Michael Moses Tarpeh, the wanted man who calls himself Bigggggg Mike, was arrested in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Tuesday, according to a U.S. Marshal.
“Bigggggg Mike’s in custody,” said Brad Fleming, Deputy U.S. Marshal at the U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of Ohio. “He was arrested yesterday (Tuesday), he’s in custody now in Iowa.”
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.
Tarpeh is wanted by the Morgantown, W.Va., Police Department for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault. The Massachusetts State Police also wants Tarpeh for an armed carjacking, robbery and assault and battery of a motorist in Lee, Mass.
After Tarpeh was spotted near campus Feb. 26, University Police issued a public safety notice the evening of Feb. 27 informing the campus community that Tarpeh was a “dangerous wanted person who may be in the campus area.”
The University of Connecticut Police Department has warrants pending for Tarpeh’s arrest as well. The department sent out a similar safety advisory on last week warning students of a credit card theft that had occurred in an on-campus apartment in Storrs, Conn.
Fleming said that Tarpeh will be taken back to the jurisdictions in which he’s charged and didn’t think Tarpeh would be making another stop in Ohio.
“I don’t know of any charges pending here,” Fleming said.
