(HorizonPost.com) – Last week, Good Morning America did a segment “porch piracy” that featured doorbell camera footage of a FedEx driver getting a package stolen out of her hand in broad daylight.
The footage shows a “porch pirate” sneaking up on a FedEx worker as she is approaching the front porch of Virginia resident Jessica Saenz’s home on August 24. The suspect grabs the package out of the driver’s hand and runs off in the opposite direction.
Jessica Saenz, who had been waiting for the delivery of a new iPad, told Good Morning America that she couldn’t believe what she saw. She said the FedEx driver knocked and asked Saenz to open the door. According to Saenz, the driver was so shaken that she could barely speak.
Saenz immediately filed a police report. The Chesterfield County Police Department is using the surveillance footage in its investigation.
In a statement to Good Morning America, FedEx said it is working with the police in the investigation.
CNBC reported last December that an estimated 260 million packages were stolen by “porch pirates” last year, based on data from SafeWise. In 2021, an estimated 210 million packages were stolen.
The total annual loss from porch piracy is estimated at $19 billion, according to SafeWise.
Teresa Murray, from the consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG, told CNBC that package thefts have risen in recent years due in part to the increase in online shopping that exploded during the pandemic.
University of Tennessee criminal justice professor Ben Stickle told Good Morning America that efforts to address the rise in package thefts aren’t always successful. He said installing doorbell cameras has done little to reduce porch piracy.
Stickle told CNBC last year that porch piracy is widespread because it requires no skill and is “very low risk” since all that’s required is to “walk up and steal a package.”
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