El Paso police recently arrested three “jugging” suspects from Houston after recovering $3,750 that was stolen from a vehicle parked at a Walmart store.
A police investigation found that a bank customer had withdrawn cash on April 10 and was followed from the bank by the suspects in the theft, El Paso Police Department spokeswoman Detective Judy Oviedo said.
The customer drove to the Walmart Supercenter at 10727 Gateway West Blvd. near Yarbrough Drive on the East Side, leaving the money in his vehicle’s center console while going into the store, Oviedo said in an email and news release.
When the customer returned, his vehicle had been burglarized and the money was gone. A police investigation eventually resulted in the recovery of the stolen money and the arrest of three suspects, police said.
Herman Lee Brown Knowles III, 37, Rickey Lee Wilson, 38, and Bryan Carnious Feilding, 34, all of Houston, were each arrested on a burglary of vehicle (jugging) charge, police said.
El Paso County jail records show Knowles remained at the Downtown jail and Wilson at the Jail Annex as of Monday, April 20, each held on a $10,000 bond. Feilding was released from jail on April 12 after posting a $10,000 surety bond.
Safety tips to avoid becoming a victim of jugging:
Jugging is now a felony in Texas
In 2025, the Texas Legislature passed a new law, supported by the Texas Bankers Association, that made jugging a state jail felony with a maximum punishment of two years in jail. Burglary of a vehicle is generally a Class A misdemeanor.
State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, was one of the lawmakers who sponsored the new law (House Bill 1902), which went into effect in September.
Jugging cases — often involving suspects from the Houston area — have been seen in El Paso for more than a decade.
What is jugging?
“Jugging” is a predatory crime where thieves wait near a bank or ATM, watching to see if a customer withdraws money. The customer is followed to another location, where the victim is robbed or their parked car burglarized by thieves, hoping the cash was left behind in the vehicle.
The origin of the term “jugging” is unclear but it may stem from the idea of a jug used to carry a large amount of cash or it may refer to slang for a “bank” dating to the 1800s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police arrest 3 ‘jugging’ suspects from Houston
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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