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Caught on Camera: Porch pirate steals package

Posted at 5:16 PM, Sep 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-13 17:17:25-04

WYOMING, Mich. -- Justin Saladin arrived at his Wyoming home Thursday night expecting to find his Amazon package on his porch, but it was nowhere to be found. So he checked the security footage and was shocked to find a man walk up to his porch, pretending to be a Door Dash deliver, snatch the package and leave.

Little did the suspected thief know, he would be caught in the act, committing a crime that police say is all too common.

"It's certainly not uncommon at all for us to see packages delivered, let visible on the front porch for the public, public street, and people taking advantage of that and walking their way up the house and taking those packages and it sounds like that's what happened in this case," said Wyoming Police Department Capt. James Maguffee.

Something like this could happen anywhere, anytime.

"We live on a busy road, broad daylight it was kind of like, ya know, I didn't think that would happen I guess," he said.

With the holiday season approaching fast, Saladin and Magufee don't want anyone else to fall prey to this crime of opportunity.

"Checking that box for signature, not trusting the fact that if it's on your front porch or somebody can see it, it might not be there," Saladin aid.

"The best thing to do is to minimize the time that your packages are left unattended," Magufee added.

So go ahead and have a friend or family member keep an eye on packages coming in, have them sent to your workplace and keep tabs on mailing notifications that many retailers now offer.

Police are still looking for the suspect in Saladin’s case. If you know anything, call Wyoming police.