Man Holding Baby Accused Of Stealing Box Of Toys Off Porch In Upper Darby
By Diana Rocco
UPPER DARBY, Pa., (CBS) -- Police say as we head towards the holidays, package thefts happen more and more.
CBS 3 Eyewitness News spoke exclusively with one woman who says it will never happen to her again. She caught it all on tape and she turned that video over to police.
"When I first saw it I was angry," Lystra Lewis-Simon said.
This camera was watching when a crook stole a box of toys off Lystra Lewis-Simon's Upper Darby porch minutes after a UPS delivery. But what's more disturbing than a holiday package napper:
"He used the baby as a cover to steal," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said.
Lewis-Simon installed cameras around her home last year after someone tried to break in. When she arrived home last Monday night and saw her gate open and the package missing -- she went right to the footage.
(Reporter:) "This is actually the gate in the front that you saw was left open?"
"Just the way it is right now is exactly how it was when I came home. This one was open and the other one down below was open," she said.
"I had asked the UPS man to leave the package to the right of the front door."
You see the UPS driver follow the instructions she left. He drops the package in view of the camera then leaves. Minutes later a man walks from a neighboring porch carrying a child. He stands there until the coast is clear and then makes off with the box full of toys. A package meant for Lewis-Simon's sister.
"If I don't stop him and others like him from doing this, they will continue to do it to other people," said Lewis-Simon.
Police are now trying to identify the crook and Lewis-Simon is taking precautions of her own. She left a note on her mailbox and door for drivers not to leave packages if no one is home.
"It's Christmas time, nobody really wants their stuff stolen," she said.
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