ATLANTA — Atlanta police have received several reports of thieves dressed like delivery drivers stealing packages from neighbors' front doors and porches.
Several midtown residents shared home surveillance video showing what appears to be the same suspect approaching their home in an official-looking vest, then grabbing packages off the porch and stuffing them into a bag before taking off.
“He was wearing kind of looked like those Amazon guys with the vest, a reflector vest,” explained one of those neighbors, Ericka Howard. "It's very violating."
Howard says the thief didn't seem to be bothered by their Ring camera.
“Even when my husband spoke through the camera, he wasn't fazed by it at all, just kind of looked up at the camera and continued filling his bags and left," she said.
“They're so brazen these days. They know everybody's got these cameras and yet they still come right up.”
Howard said the thief got away with some gifts for her son and a King James Bible.
“I'm hoping that whoever has it finds it helpful," she laughed.
So do several other neighbors in Midtown, seemingly hit by the same vest-donning thief.
Although the Atlanta Police Department doesn’t specifically categorize porch pirate crimes, data shows there were 1,059 thefts reported to the department in December 2022 alone. Data shows 682 were from cars and 377 were from other places, like porches.
“I feel like it's been happening for a long time now -- and we have video footage," said Howard. "A lot of people have video footage that's close up and yet there have been no arrests or no one's dealing with it. And, you know, it's kind of frustrating."
APD confirmed they've received reports about the porch pirate, but have not yet made any arrests.
“It's just really kind of sad because this whole area has kind of been - become really crime riddled as of the past few years," said Howard. "One of the things about the city is that I love just all the walkability and I never felt unsafe like I do now. And it's just become kind of out of control.”
To protect packages from porch pirates build a hiding space, even if it's just a large planter, on the porch or front door and add instructions for the delivery person to tuck it away out of sight, until it can be brought in.