It’s the holidays—which means it’s the prime season for a phenomenon called “porch piracy.”
At some point in the recent past, some people opted to start spending their days cruising through neighborhoods and stealing packages off of people’s front steps.
Obviously the holiday season is the most lucrative time, because nowadays, so many people buy items online and delivery services work during working hours—so packages often sit outside, unattended for at least several hours at a time.
Of course, those packaged are mostly presents purchased to be given others—which means the buyer and the prospective gift recipient both suffer from porch piracy.
Recently, one woman from Lakewood, Colorado managed to strike a blow in support of online shoppers.
Renee Abeyta happened to be home doing chores when her Ring app sent her a notification.
Ring is a doorbell security system which combines a small camera in the doorbell with a phone app, which alerts users when people come within camera range. The Ring system was developed in part because of the “porch pirate” phenomenon—and Renee Abeyta owned the system.
When she heard the alert, Abeyta went to collect her packages—and found her front step empty.
When she checked the video recorded on her phone, Abeyta saw that she had been the victim of piracy. There was a clear video of a woman walking up to her door, picking up Abeyta’s package, and walking away.
Abeyta hopped in her car and headed off in the direction the woman had gone. Very soon, she caught up to the would-be package pilferer who was walking away, carrying a load of likely stolen merchandise.
Immediately, Abeyta pulled over and jumped out of the car. The woman kept on walking. Without hesitation, Abeyta gave chase.
As she ran, Abeyta yelled at the woman, telling her she had been captured on video committing the crime.
“I don’t even know what came out of my mouth or even why I said what I did. It just happened,” Abeyta said.
“I was mad as hell. There was no way I was going to let her go. I would have ran for as many miles as I had to, to get my package.”
Abeyta filmed the whole chase on her cell phone—and used the recording to influence the thief.
She told the woman that she was on video, threatened to call the police, and offered to delete the video if the woman retuned the stolen item.
At first the thief denied having stolen anything—despite the video evidence. As Abeyta persisted in her pursuit, the robber got tired and eventually came to a halt, exhausted.
Beaten, breathless, and facing potential prosecution, the porch pirate gave up her ill-gotten booty—in this case, a lid for a crock pot.
Abeyta said the issue wasn’t the specific package, it was the principle.
“Hopefully that girl and other people don’t steal stuff because it’s Christmas and these are presents for people,” she said.
