An old crime with a new spin is on the rise in North Texas
NORTH TEXAS — It doesn't get much more terrifying than confronting armed robbers at your own home where you expect to feel safe.
But a violent driveway robbery, also known as jugging, has happened again in North Texas and was caught on video
A security camera recorded a car turning onto Fox Run Drive in Watauga around 5 p.m. Monday.
You can hear passing traffic in this otherwise quiet neighborhood with no sign of what's about to happen when two people jump out of the car with guns drawn and rob a couple who had just returned from a nearby bank.
The couple handed over money and suffered minor injuries while the two robbers fled on foot and the driver took off.
Police were able to arrest one but the others are still at large.
It's very similar to what Mark Gardner experienced when he pulled into his North Dallas home back in September and three armed men tried to rob him before he was able to drive away.
"I hope that this never happens to anyone," said Gardner. "I don't sleep well at night."
Gardner and others who are followed home by armed robbers are victims of a new spin on an old crime called jugging.
"It's really kind of a resurfacing of an old crime that became popular years ago to attempt to rob somebody on their way back from the bank," said Dr. Timothy Bray, a criminologist at the University of Texas - Dallas. "We had similar issues with ATM robberies in years past where for a long time there were several banks in New York City and other big cities their ATMs would be in a locked room where you could see who was in there with you."
Dallas Police say they have already had seven jugging attacks in 2024.
In Gardner's case, he provided authorities with video but it only resulted in one arrest.
"I have to tell you, I'm quite disillusioned and disappointed, not in the police, but in the legal system," Gardner said. "My understanding was the picture from the camera didn't have enough resonance in it."
The couple recovering from the attack in Watauga on Monday tells us they own a restaurant and were at the bank getting a week's worth of cash to use as change for customers.
A warning issued recently by Austin Police urges the public to be aware of their surroundings when leaving banks, avoid leaving cash in vehicles, change the route home, and carry any cash and cards discreetly.
The Watauga Police Department also added in a statement to CBS News Texas, "If you feel you are being watched or followed, alert bank staff or drive to your nearest police department for assistance."
It's a message that might have spared this couple from a traumatic experience or the next victims.
