OKLAHOMA CITY Okla. (KFOR)- A burglary investigation leads to the arrest of three men, all from Houston, Texas. The trio is suspected of having ties to organized crime.
Imagine coming out of a store to find your car’s window shattered and your money stolen. But it gets worse, you’ve been followed.
It’s part of a growing crime called “jugging”.
That’s when suspects monitor a bank looking to target people that are leaving with cash.
“Whenever they see somebody come walking out of a bank holding a money envelope, something like that, that’s then an indicator of there’s likely going to be money in the car.” said Benjamin Weir, public information officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department.
In this case the victim whose named is listed in documents as “Medrano” withdrew some money at the Bank of Oklahoma on Western Ave, having no idea he was being watched – then followed.
From there, Medrano drove about a mile to make a stop at Lowes where the crooks took advantage.
Surveillance cameras captured what happened next.
While he was inside Lowe’s, the driver of a Jeep backed up into the spot next to his, then the passenger got out and stood between the two vehicles for a short period of time before getting back in the jeep and speeding away.
When Medrano got back to his car, he discovered his passenger window smashed and his money gone.
“We utilized our CCTV cameras, some of our automatic license plate reader technology to identify not only what vehicle we were looking for, but where that vehicle may be.” Weir said.
Officers tracked down the Jeep, then followed the driver until he made a mistake, pulled him over and found cash, a ski mask and a tool used to smash windows. All evidence linking the trio to the jugging.
32-year old Jalen Gross, 42-year old Dennis Earl, and 22- year old Datavien Arvie are all now facing charges for 3rd degree burglary and felony conspiracy.
“And we’re also hopeful that maybe they’ll tell some of their other bad actors that they may know that you don’t want to come to Oklahoma City to commit this crime.” added Weir.
The Oklahoma City Police connected this crime to the ‘Money Market Street Gang’ out of Houston, and other places in Texas where members will come up to Oklahoma and identify victims, just like this at various banks.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.