A reader passes on and is curious for your thoughts. I am too. For me it was painful to watch on many levels.
package theft
A reader reports:
“We live on Kenyon St between Sherman and Georgia. During this month, we’ve had two separate package thieves. The Third District is putting together fliers of both suspects to circulate.”
Ed. Note: I was only able to get one video to work.
“Dear PoPville,
I thought I’d send you this clip of a fairly brazen package theft at my house on 12th and O NW. I contacted UberEats about it (since he is wearing an UberEats backpack) and they said they would investigate the matter internally, but no word back. He took the item out of the box and then threw the box in my yard.”
Thank to a reader for sending No more missed deliveries: Amazon trials technology that will let drivers leave parcels INSIDE your home:
“The retailer is reportedly planning to trial ‘home access’ deliveries, where drivers are given one-off access to a customer’s home to leave the package.
According to Endgadget, two companies close to Amazon are looking at developing smart locks which would provide delivery drivers with a code for a customer’s garage or hallway, where they could leave the package.”
Is this something you’d be comfortable doing? Of course you’ll still have to pay that sales tax…
Chevy Chase.
“Dear PoPville,
My wife and I are moving back into the city after a short mistaken stint in the burbs. We’ll be moving into an apartment in a renovated townhouse, which means there is no front desk or foyer. While we’re looking forward to our return, we just came to an odd realization this week that I had never really considered – any packages that are delivered will be left on the doorstep, and package theft is a standard (and sad) part of city life. And yet, we’ve come to rely on these deliveries for everything from pet food to home goods.
We can’t be the only people who have pondered this, and I’m wondering if anyone in PoPville knows of a solution to get packages delivered from non-USPS mail handlers (UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). Amazon has lockers, but the closest one is in Arlington. I’ve read about services in other cities that accept packages for you and stay open late so that you can get them after work. Are there similar services that we don’t know about?”
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“I had a package stolen today and have video from our carmera system…the police created a report last night.”
“We’re over on Hill East and figured you guys probably aren’t sick of package theft videos just yet. We had one stolen at 6:08pm tonight (12/10/2015) off our front stoop, but at least we get to see this guy while he’s stealing it! I reported it to the police, but I’m not exactly hopeful he’ll be punished.
I think Phase II of my camera system should include some kind of electrical discharge…”
and in Dupont:
“This video of a package thief was captured on Corcoran St between 17th and New Hampshire on December 8.
Additional video shows the individual scoping out the front steps and walking around the block several times. In this instance, the package was sitting on the front steps for about three hours between 1pm and 4pm.
Apparently the contents of the packages were not appealing enough to steal, as the individual sliced open the tops of boxes, removed the contents, but chose not to take them with him.”
Ed. Note: MPD warned we were entering prime package theft season and gave some tips.
“Dear PoPville,
I wanted to alert the neighborhood of Adams Morgan and readers about a very scary break-in/package theft that occurred last weekend in Lanier Heights on Adams Mill Road NW. A handful of neighbors at our condo building reported missing packages right after Thanksgiving, and when we went to our security cameras to determine what happened, the findings were scary to say the least. Around 4:40 AM on Saturday, November 28, three men gained entry into our building through the front door, and proceeded to grab all of our packages in the lobby and take them to the stairwell, where they tore up the boxes, took the contents, and left all of the packaging behind. Our security cameras were able to catch their descriptions, which were given to DCPD along with police reports. If you recognize any of these individuals, please let the police know so that we can prevent this from happening again.
To our Adams Morgan neighbors – please be aware and safe, especially around the holiday season. It’s unfortunate that this happened, but thieves in the area know when people are away from their homes and prey on those situations.”
Another reader writes:
“At roughly 5:00pm we caught a guy trying to steal our neighbor’s packages off of the stoop. My boyfriend confronted him and took the packages away from him. The guy left but only after asking “Are you sure these are your packages?” and being unsuccessful in scaring off my boyfriend. He was roughly five foot eight, had a twisted afro sort of hairstyle, and walked off casually into the alley off of 11th & Irving.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user nevermindtheend
“Dear PoPville,
Can you post a PSA for the Shaw neighborhood about break-ins? Our basement apt (10th & O NW) had the door kicked in yesterday and the police that responded said there was a similar break in on Kingman Pl only a few blocks away yesterday, too. it was probably because we had an amazon package delivered. The guy(s) may have been following the delivery guy, went to investigate the package, which usually gets left under the steps in front of the basement apt door, and decided the door looked kick-in-able. They also tried to get in upstairs (cut the screen on our security gate) but fortunately we don’t have a flip lock on our security gate and they gave up.
We thought the door was secure, but we were obviously wrong and we’re replacing it and getting a security gate installed as an extra precaution. Sigh.
also, let me know if you see a guy trying to unload 200 amazon brand batteries…”