SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah man says his family was home when a thief stole a package from their front porch in the middle of the day, leaving an empty box behind, according to KSTU.
“I went outside to check on our Christmas lights and saw the empty box and I thought, 'that's really odd,'” Nick Ball told KSTU.
This Utah family joins more than 20 million Americans who will have their packages stolen from their homes before they even open them.
The Ball family says this thief went up to their porch in broad daylight while they were all home.
When Nick checked his surveillance camera, he saw a man who appeared calm, cool and collected as he goes up to the porch with a box in hand before putting it down and picking up the other boxes.
“You kind of feel violated, there wasn't much value in the boxes (and) replacing the stuff isn't a big deal, but you feel vulnerable at that point in the middle of the day on a busy street, you feel violated for sure,” Ball said.
Police say this is a painful reminder that this is the season when packages are ripe for the picking. Many of these crimes are caught on camera, and when the surveillance is posted online for thousands to see it makes it easier to catch the criminal.
“Now I feel a little empowered, people keep seeing the video, and I feel hopeful we'll hatch the person and prevent it from happening to someone else,” Ball said.
Police encourage everyone to make sure they are requiring a signature upon delivery so packages aren't left unattended, or they suggest having the packages delivered to a workplace.
