Unusual tale of porch package theft-and-switch

Marco emails this theory of how package thieves may be working the neighborhood.

Bottom line: They pretend to be delivering a package, but instead take yours and leave behind an empty box.

I thought it might be a good idea to share this with the community. Yesterday (8/13/15) I was expecting a package to be delivered. What I had not expected was that the package did not require a signature to be delivered. The delivery person (USPS in this case, but otherwise fill in your carrier of choice), evidently left the package at our door on the outside steps.

Here’s the important part: What my wife came home to find was an entirely different empty package which had been opened up and turned upside down to look like a “normal” sealed package as it would have been left by any number of delivery services.

The contents of this box were two additional labeled mailing bags from The Gap which were addressed to a neighbor 10 blocks south (also in Maple Leaf). Those bags were empty and stuffed into the box as filler. I didn’t know the name, but both of two shipping envelopes had the same address nearby, so I used Google to find what I though was the person and left a message at their work of what had shown up on our stairs….

The next morning I got a call from the neighbor whom I’d left the message for – the one to whom the two Gap packages were addressed. They told me that, not only were they the intended recipient of the Gap items that had not arrived, but they also had come home to an empty mystery box with yet another Maple Leaf address on it, and filled only with packing materials.

So apparently someone is going around the neighborhood looking for packages delivered outside the house. They probably use the empty boxes from previous thefts as a decoy as they approach the houses to make it look as if they might be bringing a package, but instead they leave the empty box, and take the packages that have been left making it appear as if they might be just leaving again with the same package.

That’s the best explanation we can come up with. Regardless, I phoned the North Precinct and they sent two officers over who followed up with the Gap addressee as well.

We hear stories of mail or package theft, but checking the police crime map only turns up three reports during this entire summer (since June 1).

Please be on the lookout for any suspicious activities that might reflect this sort of criminal behavior. If you see activity that looks out of place, or if you have had empty boxes show up at your door and are missing deliveries at the same time, call the North Precinct. If you actually witness activity and if you can get a license and description without putting yourself at risk I’m sure it would be helpful. Officer Smith, badge 8302 is handling my case and I’m sure would want to hear about similar activities. Always use the non-emergency number for this type of incident. 206-625-5011 (press 2 at the first prompt, and 8 at the second prompt)