Porch pirates caught on camera in Long Beach

Footage captured from a home in Long Beach on Tuesday shows porch pirates allegedly stealing packages from residents.

In the video a silver car can be seen pulling into the driveway, with a hooded man hopping out of the vehicle and making his way straight towards the front door. Once he rounds the corner, police say the man steals a package right off the front porch and calmly walks away.

That man was identified as John Woodard of Gulfport, and with him in the car was Meagan Demary, who were both arrested by Long Beach Police later on Tuesday and charged with petit larceny and possession of amphetamines.

According to police, Woodard and Demary had been following delivery trucks and stealing recently delivered packages from residences. These types of thieves have recently become known as porch pirates, who steal packages from porches and mailboxes before you can pick them up. According to Long Beach Police Captain, Patrick Craig, we’ll start seeing more and more of these porch pirates as we head deeper into the season of giving.

“The closer you get to the holidays, the more packages that are out and being delivered. You’ll see more theft because it’s an easy target so they’ll follow the delivery trucks around, see a package, grab it and go.”

With porch pirates on the rise, Captain Craig believes there’s certain guidelines every resident should follow to make sure they don’t become the next victim.

“Keep track of your packages and where it’s being delivered. Once it’s delivered try to make arrangements to get it in as soon as you can and secure it or have a neighbor secure it for you. A lot of websites allow you to put details on where you want it delivered, if you want it dropped of at your back door or something like that. Security cameras help greatly. Also secure drop off points, FedEx, UPS, manned stations where there’s somebody.”

If you find yourself the victim of porch piracy, police officials say you should immediately notify your local authorities so they can make sure your gifts end up in the right hands this holiday season.