Amazon delivery driver goes viral for dropping off package during a police standoff in North Carolina
An Amazon driver has gone viral for his exceptional – and dangerous – delivery skills. A recent video posted to TikTok shows the driver pulling up to a cul-de-sac swarmed by police vehicles and walking through armed officers to drop off a package.
"Amazon hard at work," the person who recorded the video can be heard saying. "In the midst of a standoff, he's going to deliver his package."
The video, posted on March 18, the Amazon worker is seen toting a small box up to the driveway where the apparent standoff is taking place, taking officers by surprise. As soon as they see him, they tell him to stop and take the package off his hands before he calmly walks back to his car – after taking a quick picture of the scene.
More than half a dozen Raleigh, North Carolina, police cars were visible at the scene when the drop-off was made. The circumstances surrounding the standoff are unclear.
The video has amassed more than 7 million views.
The delivery driver's dedication to the job prompted humorous responses, with one person saying, "Amazon Delivery Person: listen, I got a job to do and it doesn't matter what y'all doing. This package will be delivered today."
"When Amazon says garunteed [sic] delivery date they really mean it," another person said.
Someone claiming to be an Amazon delivery driver wrote in the comments that the person in the video didn't have a choice but to get the package through, saying, "it was either deliver the package or get fired." Someone else who claims they were previously an Amazon driver commented, "if you didn't deliver all your packages you'd get in trouble."
The company's treatment of drivers has long been under scrutiny. In December, then-Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said that he was filing a lawsuit against Amazon for stealing drivers' tips in a "deceptive, illegal scheme that tricked consumers into thinking they were increasing drivers' compensation when Amazon was actually diverting tips to reduce its own labor costs and increase profits."
In 2021, the FTC said that the e-commerce giant had stolen nearly $62 million in tips.
"Consumers need to know where their tips are going. This suit is about providing workers the tips they are owed and telling consumers the truth," Racine said. "Amazon, one of the world's wealthiest companies, certainly does not need to take tips that belong to workers. Amazon can and should do better."