Beware: Packages being stolen from porches (Dallas, San Antonio: apartment complex, renter, insurance)

[robmab]

There seems to be a rash of porch-pirating going on in our East Dallas neighborhood. Last weekend, a neighbor had a laptop stolen from his porch. It had to have happened right after UPS delivered it because he had been home all day, except for a period of 30 minutes when he had walked over to a neighbor's house. We found the Dell box in the alley behind our garage the following day -- power cord still in the box, but laptop missing.

Then on Thursday morning, I noticed our Christmas wreath had been stolen off the hanger on our front door. Seriously? A wreath! Merry Christmas to you, too, jerk!

As if that isn't disturbing enough, I returned home last night to find one large package on our porch that appeared to have been opened and taped back together (the contents were still inside, but the top was hanging open wide enough that someone could have rifled through it) and, after further research, discovered that a shipment from Amazon that was showing on UPS as "Delivered" never made it inside. It was a Kindle that is going to be a Christmas gift, and Amazon is being kind enough to replace it, but it makes me sick to my stomach that thieves are stealing packages in broad daylight. Who knows how many others they've taken from my street and others in my neighborhood.

The Today show did a feature on Friday morning about thieves following UPS and Fedex trucks and nabbing packages from porches soon after delivery. So apparently it's a national thing and not unique to East Dallas.

Just wanted to put this out there as a warning to those who do online shopping for the holidays. Be smart and require a signature for delivery or have it delivered to your work, if possible.

[Mr. Chad]

Good post, thanks for the heads up!

Not for nothing, I totally am not happy when UPS or FED EX just leaves packages on my front porch, or right behind the front door. Lately they have just been leaving stuff in the backyard. Luckily I've never had anything stolen in 20+ years....

So now, I have packages delivered to my office where I usually spend 8+ hours a day. Chances are I'll get the package delivered to me directly.

[BigDGeek]

I've never had anything stolen off my porch but I know of people in Dallas who have, including my parents in Preston Hollow.

I usually have things delivered to my office nowadays, since I work somewhere that allows it.

[sapphire]

I live in what I consider a fairly nice neighborhood, but I drag our Christmas Yoda in every night just to be on the safe side. We have too many of those doorhanger people traipsing through during the day, taking note of what's available. I'm about to put a tripwire out for them as they are ruining our yard but that's a different thread entirely. When I lived in San Antonio, our neighborhood was getting hit by a crew that was stealing people's potted plants off their porches in broad daylight. Sad world.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Thankfully we live in a "younger" neighborhood where the average age of owners is probably around 35-40, so there are a ton of stay at home moms who are always home or playing with their kids out in the yard, they notice everything going on around here.

We had a neighbor leave their garage door open one day by accident and some kids tried to steal some stuff out of the garage... nope. Neighbors saw them, called the cops, and they got busted before they knew what hit them LOL. It helps that there's only like two ways in/out of our subdivision too.

Just can't be too careful these days, especially around the holidays.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

We had a neighbor leave their garage door open one day by accident and some kids tried to steal some stuff out of the garage... nope. Neighbors saw them, called the cops, and they got busted before they knew what hit them LOL. It helps that there's only like two ways in/out of our subdivision too.

Just can't be too careful these days, especially around the holidays.

I would have gone over and talked to the kids in the first place and saved the Cops the trouble AND kept the kids off the Juvy radar. Its called "Keeping Honest Kids Honest."

We had a problem with front porch thieves earlier in the year. It was one person who was a renter from a nearby apartment complex. He would drive around after he saw the fedex truck to case the porches. Park in the alley then go around to the front to get the package. A DPD cop who lives nearby got suspicious when he saw the guy twice in one day, chatted with him, ran the plates, and then called the local PD. The guy's mom's apartment was full of stuff. He was living with his mom who claimed she did not know where it all came from.

Having a neighborhood watch, Stay at home moms, etc is not enough. A friend's wife in Frisco left to walk her kids and when she came back their car had been stolen from the back driveway. She was gone just 30 minutes and there were all kinds of people around. 10 AM in the morning. Another friend had her car stolen at 11 pm at night right after she got home. And I know of a case 18 months ago when a car was stolen from the front of a day care near castle hills at 5:30 pm with all the other parents around.

There is a bigger problem though. Its the home robberies where the robbers enter from the garage. There is a group active in the Richardson/North Dallas/Carrollton/S Plano area. Having a dog with the dog in the house when you are gone is cheap insurance. The dog has to be in the house. Not in the yard.

My FIL is a DPS Trooper. He has put in a surveillance system that texts him screen grabs from video cameras if anyone is around his house or goes inside when he is not there. This after he got home one night and found that someone had tried to kick in the back door. The dog in the house had probably helped deter the thieves. But a .22 pistol can take care of a dog with little sound. All he has gotten so far is the meter reader.

[SVTRay]

Who leaves a Laptop in a marked computer box on the front porch while no one is home? These items should be signature required only.

[HockeyDadof2]

I thought the same thing. Shame on Dell for not requiring a signature for delivery.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by TX75007

I would have gone over and talked to the kids in the first place and saved the Cops the trouble AND kept the kids off the Juvy radar. Its called "Keeping Honest Kids Honest."

Seriously????

There's nothing honest about kids caught stealing red-handed, and they SHOULD be on the juvie radar.

I'm having a hard time visualizing how this conversation you propose would have a positive outcome. At best, they mumble "sorry", then run away, having learned nothing and experienced no negative consequences. The next time opportunity presents itself, they'll be at it again somewhere else.

More likely, they laugh and/or swear at the adult, and maybe engage in some physical assault, as well.

[xS☺B☺s]

Thanks for the tip.