Authorities across the country are warning holiday shoppers not to let their guard down as criminals take advantage of a crime trend that is growing rapidly and making it more convenient than ever for them to scam unsuspecting people.
According to the FBI, “jugging” has become a popular move used by thieves stalking people as they leave ATMs, stores or banks. It’s even more dangerous during the holidays, when shoppers are carrying around large envelopes of money or expensive gifts.
Bill Stanton, retired NYPD Officer, told Fox News Digital that “jugging” is a term used to describe crimes committed at the time. Think of predators like crocodiles and water animals that are attracted to the drinking hole. In this instance, the ATM is a type of ATM.
cases have piled up all over the United States, but Texas is particularly hard hit. Police told FOX26 that on Nov. 10 a 70 year-old man was held up at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Houston Walmart. The gunman, according to investigators, forced the victim into withdrawing cash and then shot him once he had the money. The victim was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
reported that a second Houston man had been targeted after withdrawing cash from a Wells Fargo machine on April 29, 2014. The suspect is believed to have followed the victim into a carwash, pulled out a gun to try to rob the man and then fled on foot before jumping in a white SUV.
Police say that just a day prior to the attack, two men followed a Chase Bank employee and boxed him in while he was running into a nearby gas station. The pair were captured on surveillance video smashing the front window and stealing a money envelope from the console. The two suspects are believed to be the same ones who were involved in an attempted robbery the day after.
The federal prosecutors also cracked down. According to the Department of Justice, earlier this year a Houston resident was sentenced 120 months of prison for committing a jugging theft that targeted a ATM technician.
The prosecution said that Johnny Juwan Clark, 33, was on supervised parole for an earlier robbery. He and his three accomplices forcefully pushed an ATM employee to the floor and stole thousands of dollars from him in Midlothian. Clark, a member of the Houston criminal group “Hiram Clarke Money Team”, admitted to following the ATM technician at multiple locations before ambushing the man in front of the Chase Bank ATM.
