Round Rock police search for jugging suspect; victims deal with after effects

Austin police said last month it's important to make sure no one is lingering around at a bank. If you think you're being followed, call 911. Don't run errands between the bank and home or work.

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Round Rock police are trying to identify a man caught on camera in a jugging case. This is just one of many jugging cases that have happened in Central Texas and beyond.

Police say the suspect followed the victim for three miles after she made a withdrawal from a Wells Fargo on Round Rock Ave.

In the surveillance video from late November, the suspect saw an opportunity after the victim parked her car and went into a Goodwill on Smyers Lane. He smashes the car window and takes off with her belongings. The man can be seen in the backseat of a dark-colored Toyota Rav 4.

The Rav 4 doesn't have a license plate but rather a placard that says "SeeSmileDrive.com."

Suspect smashes into victim's car in Round Rock jugging

Police are looking for a suspect they say followed a woman from a bank and broke into her car and stole her property. (Courtesy: Round Rock Police Department)

Austin police said last month it's important to make sure no one is lingering around at a bank. If you think you're being followed, call 911. Don't run errands between the bank and home or work.

"That is usually when these things happen, when people make the stops right after their financial institution withdraw before they get to their business," Sgt. Jennifer Taylor with Austin police said.

Taylor says roughly $1.3 million was stolen in jugging cases last year in Austin.

"They're very aggressive, and they don't discern who you are, if you're carrying cash. They work in teams. They have multiple people. The element of surprise can really surprise you and stun you," she said.

One woman, Jennifer LaRose, says she withdrew cash at a bank in Westlake and then went to Barton Creek Mall for just a few minutes in December. Someone broke into her car and took her valuables, including her passport before an overseas trip.

"I put my purse under the seat, I put the jacket there, so it's not visible. You can't see it," she said. "That's a big possibility that they followed me because they would never know that I had bag there."

She was able to get an emergency passport for her trip.

"When you're in a situation like this, you feel like your stomach is, you feel like throwing up, but you're not," she said.

LaRose says she's still dealing with the headache of replacing everything plus the ongoing worry.

"It's still trauma for me because every time I go to my car, my heart was like this," she said, motioning as if her heart was palpitating. "I still have a fear of seeing my car being broken into. It's almost like PTSD, but it's not."