America’s Newest Crime Wave: ‘Jugging’ Robberies Strike in Seconds — Police Warn It’s Spreading Fast

Criminals are staking out banks and ATMs, following victims, and striking with terrifying speed. Law enforcement says this trend is exploding nationwide.

Police departments across the U.S. are issuing urgent warnings about a fast-growing robbery tactic known as “jugging” — a street crime that’s spreading like wildfire from Texas into states like North and South Carolina.

Jugging involves criminals staking out banks or ATMs, identifying people who withdraw large amounts of cash, and then tailing them to a second location — often gas stations or parking lots — where they violently rob them, frequently inside their own vehicles.

“Jugging rhymes with mugging — and it’s moving fast,” said Fox News Senior Correspondent Steve Harrigan on America Reports. “Some officers didn’t even know what the term meant until it hit their own streets.”

One shocking surveillance video from April 26 in Mauldin, South Carolina, shows a man struggling inside a red pickup truck before leaping into a getaway SUV, which then speeds out of the lot. The incident is one of several caught on camera as the crime wave intensifies.

In one alarming case, a landscaping business owner withdrew $6,000 for payroll, unaware he was being targeted. He stopped at a gas station, only to have two jugging suspects smash through his truck window and make off with the cash.

Jugging crews often work in pairs or small teams and move swiftly — sometimes the crime is over in mere seconds.

Texas has seen such a surge in these incidents that lawmakers are now pushing to make jugging its own felony offense, with tougher penalties than standard robbery.

Authorities advise the public to be hyper-aware of their surroundings after bank transactions, avoid making stops immediately afterward, and call 911 if they suspect they’re being followed.