WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — 26 million Americans fall victim to porch pirates during the holidays, according to a survey by InsuranceQuotes.
We are well past the holiday season, but porch pirates don’t seem to be taking a break.
On Saturday we received a message from a viewer in Winston-Salem saying she had surveillance video of a man walking up to her porch and stealing two packages.
The video from her security camera doorbell does, in fact, show a man coming up to her doorstep, walking away with two medium-sized boxes and getting in the passenger seat of a silver sedan leaving the scene.
“There was a driver but we are unable to identify or describe them,” Melissa Jackson, the homeowner, shared in an email with WFMY News 2.
Jackson says it happened on Friday, Jan. 11 in Dunbarton Court, Winston-Salem.
She says the packages were delivered by FedEx around 12:27 p.m. that day and the theft happened two hours later around 2:45 p.m.
Jackson and her husband filed a police report with Winston-Salem Police.
The police report describes the contents of the packages as 1 Washington Redskins NFL Jersey, 1 Dallas Cowboys NFL Jersey, 1 Washington Redskins NFL Hoodie and 1 Dallas Cowboys NFL Hoodie.
“For us it is not about the merchandise stolen it’s about the mere violation of one’s property that has us torn up,” Jackson explained in the email.
“How dare someone walk up on our or anyone's property and remove something they did not work for,” she added.
Winston-Salem Police says after Jackson filed the police report, officers canvassed the area, which is standard procedure in situations like this one.
No other instances were reported in that area and no other surveillance video was collected.
After the department got the surveillance video, they sent it out to all divisions within the department.
According to officer J.D. Best, Dunbarton Court, the area where this happened, is not very prone to crime.
"If there is crime, it’s a crime of opportunity," he said.
Here's what you should do if you fall victim to porch pirates:
- Immediately report larceny to the police so they can get people on the ground;
- Report any suspicious activity;
- Give police a call if you have surveillance video to their non-emergency line (336) 773-7700 or Crime Stoppers (336) 727-2800.
“The quicker you get it out there, the quicker it helps,” Officer Best said.
Winston-Salem Police is looking for the man in the video.