HOUSTON – Two people in custody and accused of “bank jugging” in the Heights area Friday afternoon are believed to be part of a bigger criminal organization.
Officers with the Houston Police Department said the arrests are a big deal and shed light on what they believe is an issue in the Harris County bond system.
“Let’s be frank here, this just shows that the justice system here has some serious problems,” said Joe Gamaldi, the Houston Police Officers Union’s new president. “This individual is 24 years old, he has 10 felony arrests, 10 in the last six years, but yet he keeps getting back out.”
Houston police said around 2:30 p.m., Jamarcus Anderson, 24, and Ja-Ree Hutching-Allen, followed a woman from a bank near Yale and 610 in the Heights. Officers said Hutching-Allen drove Anderson, and followed the woman to a grocery store near Yale and I-10 in their white Ford Focus.
Investigators said that’s when the suspects smashed the woman’s car window and stole her money. Officers in HPD’s Northeast Tactical Units along with Texas DPS troopers were in the area and arrested the pair.
HPD said Hutching-Allen tried to flee but was taken into custody along with Anderson. The woman whose car was broken into was not hurt and her property was recovered.
Officers with the Houston Police Department said they’re frustrated that suspects like Anderson and Hutching-Allen continue to get out, even though they have multiple felonies.
“He gets out again and now this poor victim today has to deal with the trauma of her car broken into and her property stolen only because the system failed and the system didn't keep this person behind bars,” Gamaldi said.
The new president is very vocal about the Harris County bond system and believes low bonds and deferred adjudication are the reasons why repeat offenders continue to commit the same crimes.
Court records show Anderson has had more than 10 felony charges since he was 17 years old. The now 24 year-old was supposed to be in prison until 2020.
In 2015, he was sentenced to five years in prison for three felonies, including burglarizing a gun store, but was given parole last September.
Previous arrests for Anderson include assault, unlawful Restraint, forgery, evading arrest, criminal trespass, delivery of a crack cocaine, burglary of a habitation, burglary of a building, felon in possession of a firearm, deadly conduct (discharging a firearm at a habitation), fraud, possession of cocaine.
HPD said since Anderson has been out on parole, he has been arrested for breaking into a woman’s car at a gas station and stealing her purse, and arrested and charged for skipping court, and his bonds were revoked and warrants were issued for his arrest.
“What kind of lesson are we teaching this suspect who has been arrested for 10 felonies and he keeps getting low bond amounts, he keeps getting deferred adjudication, he’s getting back out on the streets. Our citizens deserve better in Houston,” Gamaldi said. “They deserve to know that if they are a victim of crime that somebody is going to be held accountable.”
Police said Ja-Ree Hutching-Allen was found to be on probation for fraud-related cases in Harris County and Fort Bend County. Friday both suspects were charged with felony theft and burglary of a motor vehicle.
Officers said Anderson is a documented gang member from the south side of Houston and is believed to be involved in numerous other bank jugging crimes.
HPD are asking If you have been a victim of a similar crime or know anything, you are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477 (TIPS) or the Houston Police Department at 713-884-3131.