Two arrested in ‘jugging’ robbery

The Houston Police Department has arrested two suspects in the Feb. 13 assault and robbery of a Houston woman after police say the two followed her from a bank to steal cash she had withdrawn.

Joseph Harrell, 17, and Zy’Nika Ayesha Woods, 19, have been charged with aggravated robbery.

HPD officials and Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a Friday afternoon news conference that Nhung Truong, 44, was thrown to the ground and badly injured in the assault. She left the hospital Friday morning but will require intensive rehabilitation for her spinal cord injuries and is the main breadwinner for her children. A GoFundMe for Truong had raised almost $230,000 by Friday afternoon.

Crimes in which people are followed from ATMs and banks, sometimes called “jugging,” are a growing trend, police have said. In November, a Houston woman was attacked in her driveway after returning from a grocery store and a bank. A car followed her home and a man knocked her down and ripped her purse away, she told the Houston Chronicle.

“I just spoke to Ms. Troung about an hour ago, and I assured her that I want the city of Houston to stand behind her,” Police Chief Troy Finner said. “She has very serious injuries. The recovery is very long, and I want her to know the love of not just our agency, but also our great citizens in this city.”

Truong was attacked around 11:30 a.m. in the 9800 block of Bellaire Boulevard when someone grabbed her and tried to take an envelope of money from her, police said. Upon realizing that he had grabbed the wrong item, the attacker returned, picked Truong off the ground, and threw her down before grabbing the money and running away.

Finner declined to state a motive for the attack, saying the investigation is still in progress, and called the crime “senseless.” Truong had driven 24 miles from the bank before the assault.

Finner said people should avoid withdrawing cash from banks — a cashier’s check is safer — and do their banking online whenever possible.

“I remember there was a time when we were growing up, you didn’t lock your door,” Turner added. “That was then. This is now. Things are different … and we have to recognize that.”