In Harford County, Maryland, a resident named Vallen Hardison was shocked by what she saw on the surveillance footage captured by the camera installed at the front of her house. She wasn’t the only one, her neighbors too, shared her surprise and concern.
Porch piracy is nothing new. According to Blink, a home security camera company that was recently acquired by Amazon, more than half of our states have a higher than one per-capita rate of package theft, meaning that, on average, everyone has had at least one package stolen in half of the United States.
Many thieves today steal the packages regardless of their content and the methods they adopt are becoming more creative. In Hardison’s footage, a young girl, dressed in dark red coat and black pants, is seen running to the front of a house and running away with an unopened package.
Hardison was shocked by how someone would put a young girl up to something like this.
“I guess you know, they’re trying to do whatever they can to get at the packages, you know. But it’s a little kid, who’s going to think that a little kid is going to take packages? It’s pretty horrible,” said Hardison.
Maj. William Davis of the Harford County Sheriff’s Department said that it was painful to watch what was on the screen.
“It looks like there’s probably a 6- to 8-year-old child that looks hesitant to do it, and it’s obvious, painfully obvious that someone is directing them, either a parent or it looks like older person is directing that child to go commit the theft,” said Davis.
According to Fox 45 News, Hardison was not new to porch piracy—thieves had stolen packages left on the porches of her neighbors. However, people in the area were seriously concerned by the involvement of a child.
The Nov. 30 incident had cost Hardison a pair of new boots. According to Fox 45 News, she has made another order, and she hoped other people wouldn’t suffer a loss like hers.
“I don’t know why they took my package. I mean, I don’t—they don’t even know what’s inside. An apology would be nice. Hopefully, this doesn’t happen to any more people,” said Hardison.
Officials warn residents to be aware of suspicious activity in their neighborhood and have packages delivered to a safe and secure location to avoid porch piracy.
There is an ongoing investigation to identify and find the girl. The Harford County detectives are looking for information regarding the incident on Inez Court. If you have information, please call Deputy Matthew Turner at 410-612-1717.
