Camera Phone Photo Catches Alleged Porch-Parcel Thief in the Act

Tis the season for getting freshly delivered packages ripped off right from your front porch.

This is a common crime in communities across the U.S, including many in Northeast Ohio. During the holidays, when UPS and FedEx trucks are more common than minivans in suburban Cleveland and Akron neighborhoods, it’s especially a problem.

Vulnerable homeowners should be happy to hear that two alleged porch-package thieves were arrested north of Detroit on Friday, Dec. 5, after a resident’s camera phone photographed one of the men running from a residential porch carrying a large Macy’s parcel.

These arrests followed a similar case on Cleveland’s West Side last month, and another in Lakewood in late September.

Macomb County (Mich.) Sheriff Anthony Wickersham alleged in reports in the Detroit Free Times and Detroit News that the pair of teenagers had been following a UPS truck through a Macomb Township subdivision on Friday stealing packages from porches shortly after they had been delivered.

As one of the men dashed to their car with the Macy’s parcel, the sheriff said in a news release distributed to Detroit area media, “an alert homeowner used his cell phone and took photographs… then called the Sheriff’s Office.”

Just a few minutes later, according to the Free Press report, another eyewitness in the same neighborhood reported to the Sheriff’s Office that he had seen another porch-parcel theft. Deputies responded and arrested the two young men before they could drive away.

The sheriff’s press release reported that deputies found 26 allegedly stolen items in the two men’s 2010 Nissan Altima. They included computer speakers, children’s clothing, a comforter, and a 30-pound bag of dog food, according to the Free Press report. All apparently had just been delivered to front porches in the neighborhood.

Brandon Joel Chait, 18, and Brandon Maier Ancell, 19, both of Sterling Heights in Macomb County, Michigan, have been charged with larceny in connection with the alleged parcel thefts. Both posted $5,000 personal bonds on Friday and were released from custody, the Free Press reported.

The image with this article shows Brandon Maier Ancell, 19, taking a UPS-delivered package off a doorstep in Macomb Township, Michigan, on Friday, Dec. 5. The photo was taken by a neighbor, and provided to the news media by the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office.