Law enforcement agencies are issuing new warnings to the public as surveillance video from South Carolina reveals the alarming spread of a violent robbery tactic known as “jugging.”
The crime involves suspects staking out banks and ATMs, watching for individuals who withdraw large sums of cash. Once the victim leaves the financial institution, the perpetrators follow them — often to a gas station or parking lot — before forcefully robbing them, frequently while they’re still inside their vehicle.
“Jugging rhymes with mugging; it’s spread from Texas to South Carolina,” Fox News Senior Correspondent Steve Harrigan said Friday on America Reports. “Some police there weren’t even sure what the word meant until the crime started happening in their own districts. Law enforcement warns that it could be over in a flash.”
In one piece of surveillance footage dated April 26, a man is seen struggling inside the front passenger seat of a red truck before jumping out and fleeing in a silver SUV. The SUV then speeds out of the parking lot, caught by multiple security cameras from different angles.
Corporal Cecilio Reyes of the Mauldin Police Department in South Carolina described how juggers typically operate. “They are scoping, and they will watch you as you’re either coming in or going out of the bank, or watch you do ATM withdrawals, seeing how much you’re getting cash wise,” Reyes explained.
The trend first gained traction in Texas, where a wave of jugging arrests has taken place in recent years. Harrigan reported that the crime has since migrated to North and South Carolina. In one South Carolina incident, a landscaping business owner unknowingly became a target after withdrawing his weekly payroll. When he stopped at a gas station, two juggers — who often operate in teams — smashed his window and stole the full $6,000 cash amount.
Due to the surge in incidents, Texas lawmakers are considering legislation to classify jugging as a specific felony offense, with penalties more severe than those for general robbery.
Authorities are urging the public to stay alert when making large withdrawals and to be aware of anyone who may be watching them as they leave a financial institution.
