A group of men involved in the burglary of a bank customer's car after the customer made a large cash withdrawal have been arrested, Doral Police said.
Jarvis Alexander Rivers, 23, Elliott Delaney Reed, 23, Antonio Rudolph Wilson, 29, and Samuel Kareaon Watkins, 24, were all arrested Wednesday for what police call "bank jugging," where suspects case bank for customers making withdrawals then follow them and burglarize their vehicle when they park elsewhere.
According to police, there have been 14 suspected incidents of bank jugging in Doral since August. As a result, Doral Police's crime suppression team has been surveilling local banks watching for bank juggers.
On Wednesday, detectives saw the suspects park at the Bank of America in the 3000 block of Northwest 87th Avenue. The men entered and exited the bank and pretended to make ATM transactions, police said.
The detectives followed the men as they went to several other bank locations, including another Bank of America in the 2600 block of Northwest 107th Avenue. The suspects then followed a Cadillac Escalade from the bank and to a nearby Best Buy store.
Once the driver walked away, one of the men got out of their vehicle and smashed a rear window of the Escalade, stole a white envelope containing $2,000 and the four men drove off, police said.
"The team followed these individuals as they went from bank to bank and eventually saw them following a car that had left the bank," Doral Police Capt. Carlos Arango said. "We were able to actually see them in action and catch them with the funds in their hands."
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Police tried to stop the vehicle but the suspects sped away, hopped over a curb and drove against traffic before abandoning the vehicle as it continued to move, police said.
All of the suspects were caught while trying to flee on foot, police said. Rivers, Reed and Wilson have prior felony and misdemeanor arrests, police said.
"We want to send a clear message to individuals involved in this type of activity that we know what's going on, we know some people who we suspect are involved in this case and we're watching," Arango said.
