Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Police in four local cities are busy with several cases of victims being followed from banks and then violently robbed or having their vehicles burglarized.

The crimes, which are still under investigation, resulted in the arrest of a Houston area man who reportedly fled a vehicle that was being pursued by police.

Port Arthur Police Det. Sadie Guedry said authorities received a call at approximately 12:23 p.m. Monday, where the victim had visited a local bank and was followed home by a vehicle. The suspect, who was reportedly armed, assaulted the victim and stole money. Guedry said the victim was not shot.

Not long after this there was a similar incident in Port Neches.

Port Neches Police Chief Paul Lemoine said a man went to Wells Fargo on Twin City Highway in Groves to cash a check then drove to Port Neches to eat at a restaurant on Grigsby Avenue.

When the man was walking out of the restaurant he noticed a black SUV speeding out of the parking lot. The man’s driver side window was broken and a bank envelope with money was missing.

The victim then got it his car and began following the SUV while calling police, Lemoine said.

While this was going on, all Port Neches Police knew was that the victim of a burglary was following the suspect vehicle, Lemoine said.

From there, Nederland police located the SUV on Twin City near Spurlock and the pursuit continued into Beaumont with a number of agencies following, including the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Lemoine said the suspect vehicle drove near Walden Road, drove behind homes and in a field, then a passenger in the SUV reportedly got out and fled on foot to a wooded area.

As this was happening, with police attention on the man running, authorities lost track of the suspect vehicle.

Lemoine said police heard the vehicle was later being pursued by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, but they lost sight of the vehicle on Interstate 10.

The man on foot reportedly ran into a building with officers in pursuit. The man was told to put his hands up and lay down but he reportedly did not comply.

Lemoine said the man had an object in his hand at the time and, because he refused to be cooperative, a Port Neches Police Department officer released his K9, Rico, who apprehended the man.

Police arrested Cedrick Denzil Brooks, 30, of the Houston area on a charge of evading arrest/detention on Monday.

Guedry said there was also a similar burglary reported in Port Arthur on Oct. 14 in which the victim was followed from a local bank to a store. When the victim came out of the store, his vehicle was burglarized and the money was stolen.