By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

On Friday afternoon, Austin Police Department officers responded to a case of jugging in Northwest Austin where the victim was assaulted before being robbed. 

The victim was a woman who had withdrawn money from Wells Fargo bank at 10900 Research Blvd. After the transaction, two suspects in a gray, four-door BMW followed her home.

As the victim entered her home around 2:25 p.m. on September 9, the first suspect ran up behind her, violently attacked her, and stole her purse, which had the money from the bank inside. During the assault, the suspect threw the victim around and dragged her across the sidewalk. The victim was taken to the hospital for her injuries, according to APD.

Authorities are warning of an increase in robberies targeting those visiting financial institutions.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that from January 1 to the end of July this year, five dozen people were victims of robberies after leaving banks with cash in Austin. More 60 people had more than $500,000 in cash stolen from January through July, according to law enforcement.

This type of crime is called jugging, which is when a robber waits at a bank, check-cashing store or ATM for someone to withdraw cash. The robber then follows the customer, most often at a new location, before taking the money from the victim or breaking into the person’s vehicle.

It is unknown if last week’s case is related to any other jugging incident. APD Robbery detectives are working on it with the Violent Crimes Task Force and the Violent Crime Interdiction Unit. APD Robbery tip line at (512) 974-5092.