A California police department is faking out package thieves by putting GPS in 'bait' boxes and then tracking them after they're stolen.
A California police department has invented a bait-and-track scheme to grab thieves who steal Christmas packages from residents' porches.
Working with citizens and business owners, Arcadia police officers have been placing GPS devices inside boxes and leaving them outside homes and stores. The bait is working, the department said.
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On Sunday, cops tracked a stolen package from outside a house to a location just a few blocks away, according to the department's statement. Steve Lopez, 25, and Dandre Lageman, 30, were arrested and charged with felony grand theft and are being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, police said.
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At least four arrests of “career criminals” have occurred since the baited packages went into use, police said. In one case, police tracking a GPS-laden box arrived to find several other stolen packages, the department said.
Those packages were returned to their rightful owners in time for the holidays, police said.
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