Cops hunt porch pirate dressed as an Amazon delivery driver who is stealing packages from outside homes in Virginia
Police in Virginia are searching for information on a man who poses as an Amazon delivery driver to steal packages left unattended in front of houses.
The unidentified thief hit a home on Cary Street Road in Richmond just before 11am on Tuesday, leaving a package he brought with him before swiping the three unattended boxes already on the porch.
He is seen in grabs of surveillance footage released by the Richmond Police Department wearing a uniform with an arrow on the shoulder which is similar to that seen on Amazon vans.
Yet once he'd picked up the boxes, he returned to a waiting four-door blue sedan with no Amazon delivery truck in sight.
Cops are looking to identify this man seen posing as an Amazon delivery driver so he can steal unattended packages from the front porches of homes in Richmond, Virginia
The man picks up the packages and then returns to this blue four-door sedan
The thief placed the packages in the back seat of the car, which cops believe to be a Nissan Sentra, before sitting in the front passenger seat.
Cops believe the man is linked to the theft of packages from several homes in the area as they look for help in identifying him.
Richmond Police Department released this picture of the man in the Amazon vest
'In several incidents, the adult male wore a blue delivery-type vest, much like the one in the attached photo, which could give onlookers the impression he was legitimately making deliveries,' the police department said in a statement.
'With a parcel or box in hand, the suspect would approach a porch, which already had parcels present, switch out the real delivered boxes with the one he approached with, and walk to a waiting vehicle.'
Police have released images of the man, as well as his car and the type of vest he is wearing.
The three packages he took had been dropped off by an Amazon delivery driver at around 6pm the previous night.
Surveillance footage also shows the real delivery man putting the packages down before taking a picture of the items.
Amazon says this is part of its practice when deliveries are left unattended as proof that the items did arrive.
Ring footage shows the man in the Amazon vest approach with a package in his hand
He leaves the package down but then picks up the three that were waiting there
He returns to the car with the packages. The one he left behind was also addressed to another home, indicating that he may be leaving items he doesn't want at the next house he hits
The homeowner, who did not wish to be identified, told WRIC that one of the three packages stolen to him was returned by a person who found it outside their house.
The package the thief left behind the next day was also addressed to another Richmond home.
This may indicate that the thief may be discarding items he doesn't want as he goes to the next house looking for more.
'Obviously it's a shame. I'm sure it's happened more and more often,' local resident Andrew Breton told WRIC.
'I'm sorry to hear that it's happened to other people. I also can imagine there's a lot of people in more desperate straits than usual, just given the state of the economy these days. So I'm also not surprised that people might be resorting to stealing packages.'
The three packages had been delivered by Amazon at around 6pm on Monday
The real delivery driver took a picture to prove they were delivered
Richmond police said people should consider picking up packages at work, a family member’s house, a distribution center or to request a signature upon delivery to avoid their purchases being stolen.
Last year, more than 25million packages were stolen after delivery and that figure is expected to go up this year due to the increase in online purchases caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A request for comment to Amazon has not yet been returned.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.