Watertown police search for alleged package thief who appears to follow FedEx truck
WATERTOWN - Watertown police are investigating a string of package thefts they believe are connected - but this is not your average porch pirate.
The thief, who has allegedly stolen packages from multiple homes in town in the last week of July, allegedly follows a delivery truck before striking.
Victim said suspect followed delivery truck
Outside Lela Glikes's home on Emerson Road, she witnessed as she says the man followed a FedEx truck, parked and got out of his car, walked up to her home pretending that he lived there, walked out to the FedEx truck, and signed for her package.
She was alerted to the activity when her dog began barking. "Hey, he doesn't live here, that's not his package!" she tells WBZ she yelled out the window.
But the man ran into his car and drove away, she said. "The FedEx driver, and I were like shocked and went to stop him and he went like so fast. We thought he was going to run us over," she said. The man got away with her $400 Verizon internet hotspot.
Just a half mile away in the area of Purvis Street, Ring camera video captured who police believe to be the same man taking a package off a front porch.
In the video, you can see a FedEx driver drop off a package - which contained a new cellphone.
Less than three minutes later, a man wearing what resembles an Amazon delivery vest exits a blue minivan and appears to take the package off the front porch.
Suspect may be targeting certain packages
"Easy, petty theft that's almost victimless," said Ben Davini, whose phone package was stolen.
Neighbors are unsettled by the theft that is mostly inconvenient, but signals that someone is intentionally seeking out certain packages.
"It's awful because you know this is a nice neighborhood... I mean, they are all nice neighborhoods, and I don't know, I've just never heard of it happening but lately I have," said Susan Toland, who believes a package was taken from her front stoop.
Police are investigating. Victims tell WBZ the man is not always alone in the car but drives a blue minivan with temporary New Jersey license plates.