CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Search for suspect in violent "jugging" attack

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Trieu Pham makes the same trip to the bank every month. On September 1, he went to cash his social security check at the Chase Bank near Belfort and the Gulf Freeway. What he didn't know at the time was that someone was watching his movements, and followed him home.

Once parked under his carport on the 8300 block of Glencrest, he thought he was safe. But he would be wrong.

In the video captured on his home surveillance system, you can see a Dodge Charger across the street. Soon after Pham pulls in, a man jumps out of the Dodge, runs to Pham's car and violently pulls him out. The bad guy then rummages through some of the stuff, before taking off.

"He come and (got) hold of me, throw me," said Pham. Pham was a bit scratched up, but not seriously hurt. His son-in-law, who was home at the time, quickly ran outside, but the robber was gone.

"I ran out, I don't see nothing," said Francis Nguyen.

Cases like these are called jugging. Suspects generally wait and watch for a victim at a bank, follows the person home, and then rob that person. Houston Crime Stoppers is now asking for your help to identify the man. Pham was shocked he was robbed in broad daylight. However, even more surprising was the fact that the robber got away with nothing.

"The money he's already put in his pocket," Nguyen described his father-in-law. "So they went after the glove compartment, they just got an envelope from the bank."

What the robber didn't realize was that when he tossed Pham aside, the money was already with Pham, and no longer in the car.

An eyewitness wrote down the car's license plate number from the silver Dodge Charger. It was given to patrol officers. People contacted by Eyewitness News, who are related to the car's registration, say the car does not appear to be stolen.

Eyewitness News asked Houston Police whether investigators followed up on the license plate number. We have not been given an answer. However, Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for any additional information. Anyone with information is asked to call (713)222-TIPS.