A Jugging We Will Go -- Part I

A Jugging We Will Go

If you have not heard the term “jugging,” you might not be paying close attention to the news. Juggers are criminals that wait in or near parking lots near banks, credit unions, or ATMs and watch for people who have likely withdrawn large amounts of money. Juggers then follow the prospective victim to another location where they either physically assault the victim and take their money or wait until the victim is distracted or moves away from their vehicle and they then break into the vehicle to steal the money.

One of my students was a jugging victim in San Antonio in early 2024. She had entered and conducted business at a credit union and then returned home. When she arrived at her house, she pulled her pickup into the driveway through an open gate. She then exited her vehicle and went to the mailbox (outside the yard’s fenced area) to retrieve her mail.

Video of the front gate area shows a car which was following directly behind her pickup drive past her house and then quickly turn around and pull up to her driveway entrance as she is returning from the mailbox. A thug exits the vehicle’s passenger door and sprints to the pickup’s open driver’s door and dives into the pickup to grab her purse. 

She confronts the thug at the driver’s door; however, he pushes past her and returns to his vehicle, jumps in, and the thugs depart.

As the thug returned to his vehicle, my student (who was armed) considered drawing her pistol; however, she thought better of it and did not draw since she was not facing an imminent deadly threat. She said her training kicked in and she realized that drawing her pistol was not warranted. The thug did not threaten her physically nor did he exhibit a weapon; he only pushed past her as he escaped. A good decision on her part given the totality of the circumstances.

San Antonio Police Officers who were investigating the incident told my student that credit union cameras recorded images of the juggers waiting in the parking lot (presumably looking for a potential victim) and slipping in behind her pickup as she departed. The juggers followed her home which was over ten miles from the credit union--she did not notice the car which was directly behind her.

Jugging is on the rise across the United States. In Austin, Texas for example, in 2022 there were 153 reported jugging incidents where victims lost over $1.3 million dollars or an average of approximately $8500.00 per incident. That same year, the Houston Police Department reported over 700 jugging incidents. I have been unable to find any definitive statistics for 2023 or 2024; however, there is no reason to believe the trend is declining.

As I researched this article, I realized that some of these jugging teams are surprisingly sophisticated. When Dallas, Tx saw a rise jugging incidents in 2016 and 2017, the FBI began investigating. Ultimately the bureau arrested and charged thirteen members of a Houston-based crew with over 30 jugging offenses in the Dallas area--there were likely many more. The FBI concluded that the crew had taken more than $750,000.00 dollars, primarily from small business owners and operators.

In researching numerous incidents, I noted that often there were perpetrators using multiple vehicles in coordinated surveillance efforts to identify and follow victims. This fact hit home when I encountered the report of an incident in Schertz, TX, just north of San Antonio. The victim conducted business at a credit union (which coincidentally is the same one my wife and I use). When he departed the location, juggers followed him to a business in a near-by city and severely beat and robbed the victim who died several days later. The juggers lived in Houston and traveled to the San Antonio area to perpetrate their criminal enterprise.

Credit union surveillance video shows a woman wearing a mask inside the credit union and watching the victim. She exits the credit union and enters a gray Chevrolet Impala before following the victim to another business; surveillance video in that location shows the Impala circling the business parking lot while the victim was inside. As the victim exited the business, a Chevrolet Trailblazer pulled up behind the victim’s car and a passenger wearing a surgical mask exited the Trailblazer, approached the victim from behind and then attacked him and knocked him down. A struggle ensued before the suspect took off with an envelope containing the victim’s money. Cibolo, TX police photos show that at least three perpetrators in multiple cars were involved in this fatal robbery. See picture below.

I came across one incident where a bank employee was working with a jugging crew. The bank teller likely noted a pattern where a woman who owned a gas station and check-cashing business routinely withdrew large amounts of cash.  The day of the incident, police say that the bank teller notified the jugging crew that a woman had made a large withdrawal. The juggers followed the woman to her business where she was attacked and robbed of $75,000.00. The woman and her husband who tried to help her were both severely injured and hospitalized.

A former bank teller and the jugging team she tipped off

 

How can we prevent ourselves from becoming a jugging victim? My original intent when I started researching jugging robberies was to write a relatively short article. However, as I researched these incidents and the jugger’s tactics, I realized that since sophisticated teams were perpetrating many of these crimes, the article would need to deal with counter surveillance and other tactics as well. In Part II will discuss how you can avoid becoming a jugging victim.

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Its Back! A 20 Gauge Load with FLITECONTROL®

Federal has begun manufacturing its Federal Premium 20 gauge #2 buckshot load once again. This premium load has a velocity of 1345 feet per second (fps). As of this writing it is the only commercial load available for the 20 gauge with the FLITECONTROL® wad.

I obtained some to test in January 2025 and was pleased with the results (note: I only fired four rounds at each distance—still too difficult to get in quantity). I used a Mossberg 590 20-gauge that had a Vang Comp Systems modified barrel installed and an unmodified Mossberg 590 20-gauge pump shotgun for the test. 

I did not zero the shotguns due to the quantity of ammunition available. As a result, some patterns are not centered on the target; however, I superimposed an eight-inch circle centered on the pattern for reference. 

I started at 10 yards and both guns patterned the 20 gauge #2 buckshot FLITECONTROL® loads with a very tight pattern for all ten pellets at that distance. However, both guns did throw two pellets slightly outside the main pattern which I thought was interesting.

I then moved back to fifteen yards and both 590s patterned the FLITECONTROL® loads within an acceptable eight inches (see below).

Moving back to 20 yards, the pattern with the Vang Comp Mossberg 590 opened to twelve inches with one flyer while the standard 590 threw three pellets slightly out of the eight-inch circle.

We then moved back to 25 yards with the standard 590 and fired two shots. One shot placed all pellets within the eight-inch circle while the other threw a pattern with fliers more than twelve inches from the point of aim. 

As you can see from these results, you must test each load you are considering for your home defense shotgun in your gun. Ideally, shoot five shots at each distance until you determine the maximum acceptable range for your shotgun using that load. With the 20 gauge, I started at ten yards because previous testing with other 20 gauge loads demonstrated failures at that distance. If you see a failure at a given distance, you do not need to test at greater distances. I consider the Vang Comp 590's maximum acceptable range with this load to be fifteen yards while the standard 590's to be twenty yards. (Note: The Vang Comp system is designed to work with standard wads and generally do not do as well with the FLITECONTROL® wad.) 

Overall, I think that Federal's Premium 20 gauge load with a FLITECONTROL® wad lived up to its bigger brother’s reputation and performed well out to fifteen yards. Is that range a limitation? It is not for me, my maximum potential engagement difference in my house is twelve yards. Obviously, your circumstances may vary. Federal's Premium 20 gauge #2 buckshot load will now be the go to round for my 20 gauge home defense shotguns. 

Why chose a shotgun for home defense? 

The shotgun with modern low-recoil ammunition is the most effective short-range weapon available to private citizens and is a superb home defense weapon. The shotgun possesses several advantages over single projectile weapons such as pistols or rifles including: 

-- A solid upper chest hit with a suitable buckshot load has a high potential to end the fight immediately and encourages any of the bad guy’s surviving buddies to seek elsewhere for their entertainment. 

-- Shotguns can be customized relatively easily through adding after-market accessories. 

-- Shotguns are usually very reliable if the shooter is trained in its operation and the gun is mechanically sound. 

-- Even less expensive shotguns can be very effective with modern ammunition. 

-- Shotguns are often seen as sporting firearms and juries may look upon using one to defend yourself more favorably than a AR15-style rifle or a pistol. 

-- In urban areas, the shotgun firing buckshot rounds offers the clear advantage of a significantly reduced down-range danger zone. A shotgun’s maximum range ("maximum range" refers to the furthest distance a projectile will travel when fired from a gun) is much shorter than other firearms suitable for home defense. Buckshot’s maximum range is 748 yards compared to that of a 9mm which is 2130 yds, a .45 ACP at 1840 yards, a .38 Special at 1739 yds, a .357 Magnum at 2398, and the 5.56 rifle round at 3843 yds. (source: Gun Safety: Ammunition Maximum Range; by the NRA Staff; November 7, 2019) 

Is There a Disadvantage to Using a Shotgun for Home Defense? 

Not really. People who recommend firearms other than the shotgun for home defense often point to the shotgun’s limited ammunition capacity. A shotgun set up for home defense will typically hold up to seven shells with each shell holding eight to ten buckshot pellets. If you think about it, an extremely fast shooter with a pistol can deliver six, possibly seven rounds per second with a 9mm pistol. A shotgun with a suitable buckshot load delivers eight to ten pellets traveling over 1,100 feet per second in a millisecond.

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Aftermarket Parts Are Not Always a Good Idea

Aftermarket parts are not always a good idea. I recently attended the Bigger Circle class that Rob Leatham and Mike Seeklander conduct (great class by the way). One student who was using a SIG P320 X5 had an after-market Gas Pedal Takedown Lever Replacement installed on his pistol. One can presume that these meet SIG standards since SIG sells them on their website; however, this particular Gas Pedal failed at the junction where the small O-ring is located.

As the student and I discussed how to disassemble the pistol I noticed that the right side of the part has a slot for a flat-blade screw driver. Very convenient, because without the larger piece attached, turning the takedown lever would be more difficult. Full disclosure – I purchased a couple of Gas Pedals from SIG and have been satisfied with them. Mine have not failed.

I generally do not put after-market parts that perform a critical function on my carry pistols and the Gas Pedal is no exception. I only have them on my competition pistols.

I have personally had P320 extractors fail, Glock front sights fall off at the worst possible moment, XDM rear sights break, 1911 plunger tubes fall off -- the list goes on.

Aftermarket parts must be at least as strong and of the same or better quality than the factory part. If it is not, why replace the factory part? Regardless, you should periodically inspect every critical part on your pistol, factory or not and replace any part that is worn, shows signs of fatigue, or is cracked.

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Do Not Carry Expired Pepper Spray

Pepper spray can be an excellent self defense tool and most people can easily learn how to use it effectively. However, a pepper spray canister does not last forever. Although the pepper ingredient (oleoresin capsicum or OC) does not lose its effectiveness (ask me how I know)—the propellant can and does lose its ability to spray properly over time.

You might have been wondering about the picture of piggies. Last year we had some wild pig visitations and they apparently found the grubs in my front yard particularly appealing. If you have never had piggies paying attention to your lawn, they can and will destroy it and can do so in a remarkably short period of time. A lawn that piggies have attacked looks like a drunken farmer plowed it in the dark.

As I was attempting to devise a way to discourage their interest, I decided to spray OC from expired pepper spray canisters on the yard. Spoiler alert: OC did not appear to bother piggies in the slightest, so this is not a way to discourage their interest in a lawn. During this process, all the expired pepper spray canisters did expel their contents in some manner; however, some simply dribbled the contents on my hand rather than spraying. There was no external indication showing which expired canister would spray and which was going to dribble.  I did notice that the smaller canisters tended to dribble more than the larger ones. This is perhaps due to the lower percentage of propellant in the smaller canisters.

Most pepper spray canisters have either a manufacturer date or an expiration date stamped on them somewhere for a reason. The standard expiration is five years from date of manufacture or on the noted date. The picture on right is a canister that was manufactured on April 10, 2016 and expired on April 10, 2021. You should not use expired pepper spray canisters because they may dribble the contents all over your hand or fail to spray at all. 

Replace expired pepper spray canisters and properly dispose of the expired canisters. This may mean throwing away canisters that are not empty, but this is a small cost in the broader scheme of things. Since the ability to maintain distance is a key advantage of pepper spray, do not rely on expired canisters for protection—you may get a dribble instead of a spray which will compound rather than solve your problem.

The “Old” Bakersfield Police Department Qualification

There are numerous discussions of the “Old” Bakersfield Police Department Qualification floating around on the internet. I believe I first encountered a description when I read Andy Stanford’s article “R.I.P. Mike Waidelich Requiem for an Unsung Hero” that discussed Mike Waidelich and the concept behind his development of the qualification (see note below for additional information).

According to Stanford’s article, in 1967 the Bakersfield Police Chief appointed Mike Waidelich as the department firearms rangemaster with specific instructions to improve the department’s firearms training program -- he served in this position for twelve years. Waidelich developed the ten round Bakersfield handgun qualification during that time.

The “Old” Bakersfield Police Department Qualification is as follows:

    -- Two rounds in 1.5 seconds at 10 feet

    -- Two rounds in 2.0 seconds at 20 feet

    -- Two reload Two in 6.0 seconds (8.0 for revolvers) at 30 feet

    -- Two rounds in 3.5 seconds at 60 feet

I use the term “old” because I see several internet sources discussing what they purport to be the “new” Bakersfield Police Department Qualification. I doubt that this is accurate since from my research, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) requires a minimum of thirty-six rounds to be fired at five, seven, and fifteen yards with the handgun (LD 35 of the PC 832 Arrest and Firearms Training Specifications). I can find no official document concerning the current Bakersfield Police Department Qualification course of fire. I would appreciate any official references that provide this information.

Per Stanford’s article, the old qualification scoring was shot on a silhouette target with a 7-inch circular ten-point scoring zone, with the next scoring zone measuring 9×13 inches earning nine points, and finally hits anywhere else on the silhouette scoring six points.

Additionally, the scoring method provided for time penalties of one point per quarter second (0.25 sec) over the time allowed for the string. So, if you fired two shots in 1.5 seconds at 10 feet, you received zero penalties; however, at 1.75 seconds you lost 1 point, at 2.0 seconds you lost 2 points, etc. This was before the widespread availability of electronic timers and the rangemaster likely used an analog stopwatch for recording the time to the quarter of a second. As one might expect, the timer’s reaction time introduced some variance to the measurement.

Paraphrasing Stanford’s article, Bakersfield Officers had to earn a minimum of 80-points out of a possible 100 on either string out of two tries to pass the qualification. If a shooter failed to shoot an 80 in his first two attempts, he was sent to a side range to dry practice and then given a third try. Failure on the third try resulted in additional training requirements and possible sanction.

I run a monthly Short Range self-defense match where most stages are based upon a real-life event that was recorded on video and that I adapted for a square range. For the past year, I have used several versions of a standards stage that allows competitors to measure improvements in their performance. For the September 2024 match, I decided to run the old Bakersfield Police Department Qualification. Competitors shooting the match once, completed two iterations of the qualification while competitors shooting the match twice completed four iterations, etc.

We used my standard qualification targets with a ten-point scoring zone measuring 6 x 11 inches giving the shooters a total ten-point area of sixty-six square inches. This is a forty-two percent larger and therefore more generous ten-point area than the old Bakersfield 7-inch circular ten-point scoring zone (of 38.38 square inches); however, for the Short Range Match, any hits outside this ten-point area only earned three points. The target was covered with a t-shirt, so the scoring area was not visible to the shooter. (See photo on the right.)

Of the thirty pistol competitors who participated in the match, thirteen qualified and seventeen failed to qualify. We used the Bakersfield time deductions so a competitor shooting the ten-yard string at 1.51 seconds lost one point, at 1.76 seconds the shooter lost two points, for 2.01 seconds they lost three points, etc. I deducted 0.50 seconds off a shooter’s time when they started with a concealed draw. This scoring method imposed a much greater accuracy standard on the shooter and several shooters failed to qualify by only one point.

My first stage in the match happened to be the standards stage so I shot the Bakersfield qualification cold for my first run unconcealed with the following result: 

 

Name: Eric Lamberson   Date: 8 Sep 24 

 

                                Time         Overtime Points 

10 Feet, 2 rds          2.12                       3

20 Feet, 2 rds          2.41                       2

30 Feet, 2 rds          6.00                       0 

     reload, 2 rds  

60 Feet, 2 rds          2.67                       0

 

Time Deduction: -5 points 

Target Points down: -7 points

 

Score: 88  

I used my SIG P-320 Compact Carry pistol (my EDC pistol) for the match.  This was the first time I had fired this pistol in over seven months since I have been concentrating on improving my Steel Challenge shooting performance using my full-size P-320 X5.

I was pleased with my initial run. I had nine hits in the ten-point scoring zone and one hit in the three-point scoring zone for a total of ninety-three points. My 2.12 second overtime on string #1 cost me three points and my 2.41 second time on string two cost me two additional points for a total deduction of five points. My score was 88 so I passed the qualification. I shot the match twice, so I had four runs total. For my second run I earned an 87, for the third and fourth runs I shot a 99 on each.

One other IDPA Master shot the match and he scored an 80, 89, 90, and 86 respectively on his four runs. Several competitors that qualified only passed one run out of two. Other competitors who failed to pass shot very quickly; however, their accuracy was subpar while some earned the points on the target but lost too many points through time penalties.

Feedback from the competitors who shot the match was positive so I will probably run it again in the future.

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Notes:

You can find Stanford's article reprinted on a couple of internet websites; however, I have not found the original article. The link to Andy Stanford's article downloads a .pdf file:

https://www.facebook.com/JamesYeagerofTacticalResponse/posts/rip-mike-waidelichrequiem-for-an-unsung-hero-by-andy-stanfordlyle-wyatt-just-cal/3851889504887819/

Bob Jewell wrote a well-researched article in the July 2024 edition of USCCA’s Concealed Carry Magazine which provides additional information and some pictures of Mike Waidelich.  The link to Bob Jewell’s USCCA article downloads a .pdf file:

 https://www.firearmtrainerpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USCCA-July-2024-Waidelich.pdf

The Sensible Self Defense Academy Short Range Match

We run a monthly Short Range self-defense match where most stages are based upon a real-life event that was recorded on video and that I adapted for a square range. Typically, armed robberies, home invasions, with an occasion terrorist-themed stage.

Threat targets either have a mask or show a visible weapon and are covered so the shooter must aim at an anatomically correct scoring area (upper chest) to achieve proper hits. We cover non-threats as well. The difference is the non-threat will show no visible weapon. It is surprising how tempting some of the non-threats can be when you are in the middle of a stage.

I can always tell when I have new shooters in the match because there will be hits below the down-zero scoring area. New shooters often aim for what they imagine is the “center of mass.” People who shoot the match regularly, know better and aim for the upper chest.

The picture of the uncovered target below illustrates this. This target was for the Standards Stage and has an anatomically correct scoring area. We replace the down zero scoring area after every shooter. If you look at the back of the target, you can see that during the match, most of the shooters achieved down-zero hits.  Ten shooters engaged that target during the match, firing 200 rounds.

When I send out the match results, I include a link to the video of the events from that match. The idea is for the shooter to solve the problem and then view the video of the actual event to understand how it happened in real-life.

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