BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — With Christmas less than a week away, many people are expecting last-minute gifts to be delivered to their doorsteps, and so are many thieves.
These thieves, often called "porch pirates," wait in the shadows for the perfect opportunity to strike, and the holidays tend to be the best time for them to hunt for treasure that isn't theirs.
Daniel Alegria of Bakersfield experienced this kind of theft just before Thanksgiving.
"You feel, you know, violated," said Alegria. "This is your property and somebody just taking something that you paid for. It's your house in the video and you just see somebody taking your property, so no, it's not a good feeling at all. It's upsetting and there's only so much you can do about it."
Alegria says his wife was expecting a package to arrive after they got back from celebrating the holiday out of town. He says FedEx delivered the package a day earlier than expected, but Alegria and his wife didn't receive any notification that the package had arrived.
That's when a woman approached his home at 3:00 in the morning and took the Alegrias' items right off their doorstep.
"And usually our neighbors, we all kind of pick up each other's packages, but since we didn't get a notification it had been here, it looked like it was delivered in the afternoon and this person picked it up at 3 o'clock in the morning," said Alegria. "What we think they're doing is driving around in the neighborhood and seeing packages that are being leftover, and if they're not being picked up by nightfall, they're coming back and grabbing them."
Alegria says they filed a police report after the incident and shared the video on the Nextdoor app to warn their neighbors. Fortunately, the Alegrias were able to get a refund for some of the items that couldn't be recovered, and Daniel says the process was surprisingly quick and easy.
Sergeant Robert Pair with the Bakersfield Police says there's typically an uptick in package theft during the holidays. In a statement to 23ABC, Pair recommends that residents watch out for their neighbors, stay home if they're expecting a package, and install security cameras to deter thieves.
Pair's advice is not a guaranteed solution to the problem of porch pirates. The Alegrias were following all of these precautions and their packages were still stolen. Having video of the thefts helps the police identify and prosecute the thieves, and BPD offers a community camera registration program to help police locate security camera footage more quickly in the event of criminal activity.
Alegria says it's important for neighbors to look out for each other, and he says he wants delivery services to send updated notifications to the people receiving packages to ensure that deliveries are picked up right after they're dropped off.
"And I let them know, too, 'Hey, right now I'm available. I'm home if you guys need me to pick up a package,'" said Alegria, explaining how he helps his neighbors avoid getting their packages stolen. "I already have since that's happened, and we've had them pick up our stuff 'cause it's like you can't even go to the store now. You have to be worried that if you leave something here for an hour, somebody could come and grab it."
If you have been the victim of a porch pirate, whether you have video or not, you should contact your local police and make as much of a report as you can. In Bakersfield, contact BPD at 327-7111.
