Beware: Bank juggers are watching you

On September 13, Florida’s Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MSO) educated us to the existence of, and warnings about “bank juggers.”  Officials said that ff we don’t know what bank juggers are, we should – because they are creeping their way into our local communities searching for victims. And they just hit Martin County.

Juggers are traveling criminals who sit in bank parking lots for hours, sometimes days waiting for the perfect victim. They move from bank to bank and only strike when they feel the time and the circumstances are perfect.

Their targets:  Customers who walk out of banks counting money, putting wallets in their pockets or purses, holding bank envelopes, clutching a briefcase or business bank envelope. Then, as you drive off, they follow you.

They follow you to a red light and rob you, follow you home and confront you, or follow you to your next stop and burglarize your vehicle. Their only goal is to steal what you just took out of the bank. They are fast and they don’t care about your safety or circumstances. They are criminal creepers.

The following video provided by the Martin  County Sheriff’s Office depicts just how quickly a jugging works. The victim in this case did not know he was being followed. He left the bank, then made a second stop where he exits his vehicle for less than five minutes. But within that time frame, the crime has been committed.

See the actual jugging below to see what can happen if you are not aware of your surroundings when walking in or out of a bank.

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In the real-life video above, the traveling criminals sat in a bank parking lot and waited for the perfect target to rob, burglarize, and terrorize.  Here, 24-year old Cheyenne Moore and 33-year old Omar Cofield, both of Miami, victimized a bank customer on Saturday giving Martin County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Florida Task Force just enough information to anticipate a return.

As expected, they came back a couple days later. This time, they were not only the ones running surveillance, but the ones being surveilled. As anticipated, they committed another crime. But before they could make it back to Miami, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and the South Florida Task Force cancelled their plans.

Both suspects were arrested and taken to jail charged with burglary, providing a false name, larceny, possession of burglary tools and causing property damage.

These bank juggers have been sidelined, but there are more. While we do our best to catch them, we are asking everyone to be vigilant when leaving banks. If you suspect you are being followed, or feel uneasy for any reason, call 911.

“Bank jugging” is reaching epidemic proportions across the U.S.  For  more on this phenomenon, see the video accompanying this article.

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(Source: Martin County Sheriff’s Office)

~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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