YouTube Video Leads to Arrest of Suspected Package Thief

A woman suspected of stealing a UPS package and items to be donated to charity from a Fremont porch in November was arrested Wednesday, police said.

Danielle Gonsalves, 32, of Oakland was arrested without incident around noon on the 9700 block of MacArthur Boulveard in Oakland in connection to the Fremont theft.

At the time of her arrest, Gonsalves was in possession of stolen mail, IDs and credit cards of other victims, according to the Fremont police department.

She was booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor petty theft and felony identity theft, along with a felony probation violation.

Authorities will continue to investigate Gonsalves and follow up on possible victims identified through the arrest.

Fremont police have been searching Gonsalves for months following a highly publicized theft on Nov. 17, 2012 in which a woman was captured on video stealing a package and a bag of clothes that were left on the porch of a home on the 4500 block of Meyer Park Circle in the Glenmoor neighborhood. The bag of clothes were to be donated to a local charity organization.

The video went viral on YouTube, receiving thousands of views which led to several tips from community members, Fremont police said.

It was the first time the Fremont Police Department used YouTube to help solve a crime, but it won’t be their last.

“This was our first attempt at utilizing YouTube to solicit the public's help and we'd like to thank our community, law enforcement partners and the media for helping to share the YouTube video that led to this arrest,” Fremont police said in a media release. “As a Department, we plan to continue sharing video surveillance captured by residents and business owners in an effort to solve crime and warn criminals that if they commit a crime in Fremont, they may show up on YouTube.”

Watch the video clip of the crime by clicking on the thumbnail above or clicking here.

Visit the Fremont Police Department’s You Tube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/FremontPoliceDept.