A growing crime trend known as “jugging” has Texas lawmakers taking action. On June 20, Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1902, creating a new law specifically targeting jugging.
Jugging is when a criminal follows a victim from banks or stores to rob them of newly acquired valuables or cash. The law officially goes into effect September 1, making jugging a standalone criminal offense with penalties as severe as life in prison.
What Is Jugging?
Jugging involves criminals monitoring financial institutions or retail locations, waiting for someone to withdraw cash or purchase valuables. Once the person leaves, suspects follow the victim to another location — often a convenience store or home — and then swiftly strike, usually smashing windows or using force to steal the goods.
Surveillance footage from Houston’s Telephone Road recently showed a chilling jugging incident. As a man pulled into a convenience store after visiting the bank, two cars boxed him in. Thieves leapt out, shattered his windows, grabbed the cash, and fled in seconds.
