Suspect allegedly flashes fake ID to steal Lawndale man's package

For the second time this week, a porch pirate allegedly stole a package after impersonating a Southern California homeowner. 

"I was absolutely stunned," Lawndale homeowner John Shin said. "I couldn't believe it."

Shin said his jaw dropped when his girlfriend showed him the story of a man standing in front of an Irvine home, impersonating the homeowner to steal a laptop from a UPS drive. Shin says the exact same thing happened to him a week earlier. He believes the same suspect carried off both thefts. 

"Same outfit, same beard, same glasses, same mannerisms and he did the exact same," Shin said. "His little procedure that he was doing with UPS guys."

Similar to the Irvine incident, the man met the UPS driver on the sidewalk and nonchalantly accepted the package. As this was happening, Shin said he was inside his home looking at a notification on his laptop saying his package had been hand-delivered. He got up and chased the truck as it was driving away.

"I asked the guy, 'Hey, where's our package,'" Shin recalled. "He's like well, 'I gave it to John Shin.' And I'm like 'Well no, that's me!"

The driver told Shin that the suspect showed an ID. In a video recorded by a nearby Tesla, the suspect showed his phone to the driver, who appeared to check it with what was on the box. The driver seems to hesitate and double-check with his partner inside the truck. Shin said the man showed an ID with a photo, name and address matching the delivery.

He described him as a professional who had done this more than twice. 

"How he knew where there was whatever was inside the package, which was a laptop," Shin said. "That's also what happened down in Irvine. It was a laptop. This is more than a coincidence. There must be some kind of organized."

UPS has not responded to inquiries about their policies regarding deliveries. 

Shin has since filed reports with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the FBI, his credit card company, the retailer and UPS. He plans to pick up expensive items at the the store.