DAYTON — Neighbors in a local community are taking extra steps to avoid porch pirates this holiday season.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Jim Owen said he’s seen so many problems, he’s asking neighbors to watch out for each other.
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News Center 7’s Mike Campbell pulled Dayton police records of five reported incidents in the last two days. However, many incidents go unreported.
Around the holidays, porch pirates get worse.
Owen said delivery drivers could do better, but neighbors can also look out for each other to help stop the thieves.
“They need to go ahead and either grab the package up for their neighbor or at least slide it out of sight,” Owen said.
He said it’s not that difficult to walk or drive around a neighborhood and see packages left out.
And he sees too many other people walking around looking like they’re waiting for an opportunity.
“I mean, it doesn’t take but a couple (of) seconds to help your neighbor out to do that and maybe save them,” Owen said.
We’ve all seen the video of the porch pirates running onto porches, grabbing the packages, and getting away in seconds.
News Center 7 crews saw several Amazon delivery drivers and UPS drivers quickly delivering packages throughout a Dayton neighborhood on Wednesday.
“They’re in such a big hurry, they walk up, they throw the package, and that’s it, then they leave, take their picture, and they leave,” Owen said.
One Dayton resident shared Ring camera footage with News Center 7 that shows a porch pirate in action.
The woman steals a package and removes an animal shelter right off the porch before leaving.
“If they see the opportunity, yeah, it’s gone, it’s gone in a heartbeat,” Owen said.
Porch pirates cause big losses. A Los Angeles-based security company researched and found that 44 million Americans reported they’ve had a package stolen.
They also estimate porch pirates steal $8 billion worth of property a year nationwide.
Click here to learn how you can protect your packages.
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