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Vigilante "Back Bay Ali" works with Boston Police to stop package thieves

Back Bay woman works with Boston Police to stop porch pirates
Back Bay woman works with Boston Police to stop porch pirates 02:09

BOSTON - Boston Police worked with a Back Bay vigilante to bust some would-be porch pirates on Christmas.

The incident happened around 1:30 Christmas morning.

A resident who goes by "Back Bay Ali" says she was awakened by her puppy barking. When she looked outside her apartment window, she said, she saw two people attempting to steal a package from her neighbor's porch.

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Suspects on camera allegedly tried to steal packages from a porch in Back Bay. CBS Boston


"I said, not on our time, not in our neighborhood. The Christmas faith would be restored," Ali said.

Ali threw on her boots, called 911, and trailed the thieves from a distance for seven blocks. That is when Boston Police showed up and busted the two.

Ali retrieved the package and brought it back to the neighborhood.

It is not the first time Back Bay Ali has been on watch. She started an Instagram page called Back Bay Stolen Packages and posts fliers of individuals who have attempted to steal from her neighborhood before.

She is now hoping to re-start an initiative called the Block Captains of Back Bay, recruiting residents to do a neighborhood watch.

"We're staging, right now, for at least two block captains per block to hopefully be on watch, if you would, in their everyday activity," she said.

She's inspire, not just by the spirit of Christmas but by love her neighborhood.

"I live alone, and I don't have family up here, so this is my family. This community is my family," she said.

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