KISSIMMEE, Fla. – An old crime is new again.
Bank “jugging” is sweeping across Central Florida.
Crooks are following their victims from banks, waiting for the right opportunity to rob them.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office recently posted a video and a warning: Criminals are watching. They sit near banks and ATMs.
In Osceola County, a woman shopping at a pet store at the Crosslands in Kissimmee in March found her back car window smashed and her money gone.
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A witness told investigators one man climbed out of the broken window and into a getaway car.
Osceola County Sheriff’s Deputies discreetly followed the getaway car to a Bank of America on Winter Garden Vineland Road in Windermere.
Deputies boxed in the getaway car and arrested Jose Pena-Silva and Daniel Alejandro Campuzano-Moreno.
Sheriff Marcos Lopez said the victim’s cash was found inside the getaway car.
Jugging, unlike mugging, doesn’t always involve a robbery.
Lopez said that already seven times in 2025, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has investigated cases of thieves waiting in a car, watching a bank, and then following a person who appeared to have left with a large amount of cash.
Sometimes the thieves will wait until the victim has parked the car and left to break into the car. Other times the thieves will distract the victim while they sneak into the car and grab the cash.
And there have been instances where the thieves physically assault the victim and steal the cash.
“Some of these guys are in gangs,” Lopez said. “I believe one of these individuals (arrested in March) had a tie to a gang.”
Lopez advised residents to look around at a bank, never leave your cash in the car, and to call 911 if you think someone is following you.
But Lopez admitted thieves intent on stealing may stop at nothing.
“You know, they could follow you home,” Lopez.
Instead, Lopez suggested not dealing in cash, if possible.
“We’ve gotten to the era of technology where, from your phone, you know, if someone has PayPal or Apple, you can transfer money, which I think would be a lot safer,” Lopez said. “I mean it’s just at your fingertips. You can transfer that money anywhere pretty much, as long as your bank lets you.”
Here are several widely used cash transfer apps:
According to Osceola County court records, Jose Pena-Silva and Daniel Alejandro Campuzano-Moreno bonded out of jail and are awaiting their next court appearance.
Sheriff Lopez said both men are in the U.S. illegally and will be deported under the legal process.