SAN ANTONIO — The jugging crime trend has hit San Antonio and there are no signs it is going away. One man called KENS 5 to share his story.
He said he had no idea about the targeted robbery strategy until he became a victim.
Johnny Arredondo went inside a Wells Fargo bank off Marbach Road Friday November 3, to cash out a $2,400 check he earned for refereeing.
“I’m on a fixed income so every bit of money that I can earn, obviously helps me,” Arredondo said.
He and his wife then drove to grab a bite at Denny’s off Loop 410. He had been in the diner for about ten minutes when an employee from the Bill Miller next door came inside.
“He said, does anybody own a black Ram truck?” Arredondo said. “I said, I do and he said well somebody broke into your truck.”
Sure enough, his window was broken, the glass was shattered and the cash, which was in the center console, was gone. The Bill Miller employee got a good look at the suspect but could not get a license plate number for the suspect’s truck.
Arredondo made sure he went straight to the police substation.
“They had told me that that was pretty much a consistent pattern that they were doing some investigations on right now,” Arredondo said.
He admits this incident has taken a toll on both him and his wife. He said he is now hyper-aware of his surroundings and has already purchased a safe for his truck.
He said he was thankful he was not approached by the thief because he knew it could have been worse.
“A lot of people may go the rest of their lives and never encounter this and I understand that but better safe than sorry and why take a chance?,” Arredondo said.
But on top of taking safety precautions, Arredondo said he wants justice for the crime.
“I’m never going to get that money back, I understand that, but I want these guys prosecuted,” Arredondo said.
On Wednesday night, we reported on two men from Houston arrested for a jugging incident also on the west side. Arredondo said he called police today after hearing about those arrests. He said police are checking surveillance cameras to see if they could be connected to this incident.