Package Thieves Target Midtown Homes in Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA -- There are some certainties this time of year: Egg nog in abundance, holiday shopping, and package thieves. The latter is wrecking havoc in some Midtown neighborhoods.

Several incidents of strangers coming up to people's front doors and walking away with packages have residents concerned. Thieves have gotten increasingly bold, many of them casually walking the street approaching home after home.

It's not just a Midtown problem, though. It's happening in Cobb County, where police officials have published tips for residents on how to avoid parcel theft. It's also happening in East Atlanta, even when the homeowner has UPS tracking the box.

But it's especially flagrant in Midtown, according to residents who are sharing their stories with local news. It happened again recently, this time on State Street near Atlantic Station.

Midtown resident Hillary Bliss said her security cameras captured a thief in the act.

“In the video, you can see a gentleman standing here next to the front door, kind of talking on the phone and then he reaches down, picks up the package,” Bliss WGCL-TV.

“Minutes later, we saw him walk back through houses and cross the street, as if he was walking on to the next place,” she was quoted as saying.
At one residence, the man looks to steal a package, but decides it's not what he wanted.
“It appears he opened one flap of the package realized it was books, and not something he was interested in…so he actually dumped it back by our trash can,” Bliss told the TV station.

Below is a video from WAGA-TV of another Fulton County "package pirate" caught in the act.

Read more: Tips to Prevent Package Thefts

Patch has written before on how not to be "victimized by package pirates." One good tip is to watch out for vehicles that pull up behind delivery trucks. They may be scoping the area out to strike later.

Another way to prevent parcel theft is to always make sure someone is home to receive the package. Another preventative tactic is to have the package delivered to the local UPS office, where you can pick it up safely.

Image: YouTube screen shot