HOUSTON – Two men who are accused of following a man from a bank and attempting to steal from him were arrested Thursday by officers with the Houston police department's Northeast Tactical Unit.
Houston police call the crime "jugging," when crooks follow unsuspecting bank customers and either break into their cars and steal the cash or rob them and take it.
Investigators said Thursday that Jessie Hubbard and Chazz Davis followed a man from a bank near Interstate 10 and Uvalde. The man then stopped at a Harris County building to pay his property taxes. Police said Hubbard and Davis tried to break into his car to steal money but officers caught them in the act and stopped it.
"They followed him to numerous locations," said Art Bazan of HPD. "They even went to one store and followed him inside to see what he was doing."
Police arrested Davis last September for the same crime. He is out on bond on that charge.
HPD has saturated the area with officers who in the last year have arrested 160 suspects for jugging, many of them repeat offenders.
One officer told Local 2, that the culprits get arrested, bond of jail and are usually back on the streets jugging within in a day or two.
Officers are working with special crimes prosecutors from the Harris County District Attorney's Office to apprehend them.
In the most recent case, Hubbard and Davis have been charged with engaging in organized crime and burglary of a motor vehicle. They are both known gang members, police said.
Police said that every day at almost every bank in the city, there is a criminal casing the parking lot looking for his or her next victim.
They suggest that bank customers use money orders or cashier's checks whenever possible, never leave the bank with a bank bag or money envelope, never leave cash in a car and always be aware of surroundings. Pay attention to who is around you, especially when using an ATM.