Oak Lawn, Illinois man catches porch pirates on camera, but says police say there's not much they can do

Suburban Chicago man tracks down porch pirates, but police say hands are tied

OAK LAWN, Ill. (CBS) -- An Oak Lawn man's packages were stolen from his front step—so he turned into a detective and tracked down the pickup truck involved.

But he said local police told him there is not much they can do.

Jason Samhan sent CBS News Chicago his doorbell camera video.  He said on Dec. 4, two women got out of a pickup truck and grabbed his packages from right outside his door.

He said he looked up the license plate online and found the person to whom the vehicle was registered.

Samhan even got the car owner's phone number and address and called him, asking him to share the women's names. When the man refused, Samhan called police.

"They said unless they're driving through Oak Lawn doing a crime at the time with the car, and they get pulled over, there's nothing much they do. They can't go to the city, or pick them up, or go to their house," said Samhan. "I guess if you're stealing mail or you're a porch pirate, that's why it's so common—because nothing ever happens to them."

Samhan claims the same pair is stealing from several other homes in Oak Lawn.

CBS News Chicago has reached out to Oak Lawn police to get an update on their investigation.

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