Thefts of packages left in buildings and front porch doorsteps are surging nationwide — a whopping 1.7 million packages per day.
Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. But for the first time ever, online shopping is expected to surpass in-store shopping amid the coronavirus pandemic.
And with all those packages being delivered, it has led to a rise in pandemic porch pirates, some of whom are caught on camera thanks to the increase in doorbell cameras. Thefts of packages left in buildings and front porch doorsteps are surging nationwide — a whopping 1.7 million packages per day.
"It’s amazing to me how brazen somebody would be,” Sharon Strauss told Inside Edition. She caught one man stealing a package right outside her door.
“The man walked up, saw the package, grabbed the package and quickly kind of tucked it in his back, threw his shirt over it and just kept walking off,” Strauss said.
So just how long would it take for a package like this to get stolen? To find out, Inside Edition’s Investigative Unit purchased a speaker, packed it in a box, slapped on a label and left it on the front steps of a building in Brooklyn.
In less than three minutes, a man walked up, snatched the package and casually walked away. Suddenly, he spotted our camera and took off running, dropping the package in the process.
The next night, our package was stolen again. A man swiped the package and carried it down the street. Inside Edition followed him for two blocks as he ducked behind a car to rifle through the box’s contents.
“That’s our package,” producer Josh Bernstein told him.
"Your package?” the man said
“Yeah, we just watched you take that off the stoop,” Bernstein said. The suspect abruptly walked away upon being confronted.
So the next time you order something online, you might want to have it delivered to a trusted neighbor who will be home when your package arrives.
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