Police: Sonar used to find ‘Bad Hair Bandit’s’ gun in local pond

Less than a week after a federal grand jury indicted the Bad Hair Bandit in U.S. District Court, Williamsburg police believe they have recovered the weapon that Jason Fox used during the robberies.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said that police got information shortly after Fox and his wife Tasha Fox, were arrested on Dec. 2 that the gun used in the robbery had been discarded in a pond off Golden’s Creek in Knox County.

Police got permission from the property owner to search and pond, and had been looking for the gun for nearly a week.
About 1:30 p.m., emergency officials spotted the gun on sonar and used a magnet to retrieve it from the pond, Bird said.
The 9 mm firearm matches a gun box that police previously recovered as part of the investigation.

Bird said that based on information police received, they believe it is the weapon, which Jason Fox brandished during several robberies.

Both Tabatha Fox and Jason Fox had told investigators that Jason Fox only used a BB gun during the robberies, which is a claim Bird said he doubted.

The Williamsburg Fire Department, Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses, and Kentucky Emergency Management Area 11 Manager Jerry Rains assisted with the recovery of the gun.

Moses said that emergency workers had unsuccessfully tried using divers recently in an effort to find the gun.

The county purchased the sonar unit earlier this year.

"It was the first time we really got to use it. It worked out really well," Moses added.

On Dec. 14, a federal grand jury charged both Jason and Tasha Fox with armed bank robbery and conspiracy to carry and use a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence for the Dec. 1 armed robbery of the L&N Federal Credit Union in Williamsburg.

Jason Fox was also charged with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

The pair are scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 20 in U.S. District Court.

The indictment alleges that on Dec. 1, the defendants used force, violence or intimidation to rob the L&N Federal Credit Union of $3,270.

Prior to their indictment, the couple was already in custody in the Whitley County Detention Center where they were being held in lieu of $1 million cash bonds on state charges related to the bank robbery.

Jason D. Fox, 30, of 23 King Mountain Spur Road, faces a mandatory prison sentence of seven years in prison on the firearm’s charge, and a maximum prison sentence of 25 years on the remaining charges.

Tasha K. Fox, 27, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, but any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States sentencing guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.

Jason Fox has confessed to robbing a total of seven banks, and of being the so-called Bad Hair Bandit, as he was dubbed by the FBI because of the wigs and various disguises he allegedly wore during the robberies in Southeastern Kentucky and Northern Tennessee, Bird said.

Bird said that Tasha Fox confessed to being the getaway driver in the Williamsburg robbery and at least two more robberies.
The day after the L&N robbery, Williamsburg police identified the getaway car used in the robbery, and put out a notice to surrounding police departments for the vehicle.

Jason Fox was arrested on Dec. 2 by Barbourville police in the vehicle. His wife was taken into custody later that day.
Since June 9, 2011, Jason Fox is believed to have robbed banks in Jacksboro, Corbin, Jellico, Barbourville, Pine Knot and most recently Williamsburg.