Violent ‘bank jugging’ robberies on the rise, California police warn

(KTLA) — Police are warning the public amid a spike in violent “bank jugging” robberies across Southern California as the holidays approach.

“Bank jugging” involves thieves staking out potential victims in bank parking lots and then following them to their next destination to rob them.

Popular shopping centers are prime areas for suspects searching for their next target, police said.

“These are dangerous crimes,” Lt. Derek Green with the Burbank Police Department told KTLA. “The crime is usually when a group of people follow unsuspecting victims to a bank and wait for them to withdraw a large amount of cash. Once the victim leaves the bank, they follow them to their intended destination.”

Police say this type of organized robbery is nothing new.

“You usually have somebody driving a vehicle,” explained Green. “Oftentimes, you have somebody that’s actually inside the bank posing as a customer themselves and they’re in communication with each other, so they’re keeping close eyes on their victims.”

Surveillance video captured a bank jugging incident in Los Angeles’ Sherman Oaks neighborhood this past July.

A customer is seen walking out of a Wells Fargo bank with a bag containing $10,000 in cash. Two suspects — a gunman and a getaway driver — had pulled into the parking lot, awaiting his exit.