An audacious thief snatched a package right out of the grasp of a delivery driver last week right as the driver was approaching the home where the item was to be delivered.
The thief then hurried back to his getaway vehicle, a late-model white BMW sedan, while holding up his pants. The entire scene was captured via doorbell footage obtained by ABC 8 News.
The incident happened in Chesterfield, a suburb of Richmond, Virginia, on August 24.
In the video, the suspect can be seen casually walking behind a female FedEx driver carrying a box by her side as they both proceed up the walkway to the porch of a house. According to ABC 8, the thief had told the delivery driver that he lived at the residence. Just as the FedEx worker made it to the porch, the man trailing her grabbed the box with both hands, easily ripping it away from the surprised delivery driver.
The porch pirate reportedly made off with a $1,600 iPad. Loot in hand, the suspect returned to his car, which was parked right in front of the house in view of the camera. In the video, the suspect can be heard revving the engine, apparently in no hurry to make his escape.
The house’s resident, Jessica Saenz, was working from home when the theft happened. She was informed of the incident by the distressed delivery driver.
“I was in a meeting and then the FedEx lady started knocking on my door like, really hard,” Saenz told ABC 8. “I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’”
Saenz said that when her husband found out what happened, he was more concerned about her physical safety than the theft itself, saying that if she had been at the door to sign for the item, the thief could have assaulted her.
The delivery driver was able to take down the temporary plate numbers on the BMW. Saenz said police told her the numbers were associated with another theft, per NBC 12 WWBT.
A neighbor of Saenz’s, Johnny Eubanks, said he witnessed the incident while he was walking his dog.
“It’s kind of … crazy. I’ve never seen anything like that before. You know, usually people are sneaky about it,” Eubanks told ABC 8.
“Thank god we’re fine but he’s going to keep doing this to other people and that’s just sad,” Saenz said, according to NBC 12. “I hope the police can find this guy because it’s just not good for our community.”
Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia have been hit by an epidemic of theft.
The same can be said for the DFW metroplex, which has also been experiencing high theft rates, as reported previously by The Dallas Express.
In Dallas, there have been 18,134 reported theft offenses this year as of August 30, according to a Dallas Police Department report.
DPD is currently enduring a significant staffing shortage, operating with 900 fewer officers than the 4,000 recommended by a City report.
The shortage has affected public safety in Downtown Dallas, which regularly logs higher crime rates than Fort Worth’s downtown area. The latter is patrolled by a dedicated police unit that works alongside private security officers.
