Suspected jugging incident caught on camera in South Austin parking lot

Jugging suspect caught on camera

A South Austin business says it caught a jugging on camera in its parking lot last week.

AUSTIN, Texas - A South Austin business says one of their customers had their truck broken into and burglarized and caught the incident on camera.

On Thursday afternoon, store employees at Ace Contractors Supply on Ben White Boulevard were helping a customer, when Ami Maze says she saw a black SUV pull into the parking lot and a man get out of the back seat.

"By the time I could get my camera out he was gone," Maze said. "I noticed he got out, I didn't realize he broke the window, to me it just looked like he grabbed it. From our video we did notice that he burst the window out and grabbed what appeared to be money off of the dash that is what the customer confirmed. He said he had been at the bank and suspected that maybe they followed him."

Maze said the customer did not confirm the amount of money that was stolen, but it seemed to be a significant amount.

"I was so upset for him, I felt so sorry for him, and you could just tell you know that he was very upset," Maze said.

She says the thieves were gone within thirty seconds of pulling into the parking lot.

"Since the vehicle had already left, we just assumed that we shouldn't tie up the 9-1-1, I mean it's a non-emergency I guess, we just assumed we were supposed to call 3-1-1, so that is why I called that one, and she said that was the right thing to do," Maze said.

Jugging crimes on the rise in Austin area

Jugging is a crime where thieves stake out their targets at locations like banks or stores

Earlier this year former Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon spoke out against jugging.

"Certainly. I think that, you know, first of all, when it comes to jugging, it's really about education and making sure that people understand that this is happening so that they can be on the lookout and they can, they can hopefully take measures that would make it as hard as possible for that crime to occur," said Chacon.

The store decided to put the video on social media in hopes that someone would recognize the car or those involved.

"I just hope that they can catch the people that are doing this, I don't understand why people steal from people that are working hard," Maze said.

South Austin Crime and Public Safety