A Whittier Heights family has a warning for other neighbors: make sure you get your packages off your porch as soon as you can.
On Friday afternoon, Ryan and Jacqueline were in their home near the intersection of 8th Ave NW and NW 65th St when a package was stolen off their front porch. Ryan remembers a white box on the porch that they had been expecting when he got home from work. Around 6 p.m. when they went to retrieve it, the white box had been replaced by a brown one full of garbage. They park in the garage so they don’t have to go through the front door to get inside. “I feel violated,” Jacqueline tells us. The suspect(s) stole the package when the family was home. They have no leads on suspects but warn others that packages are being replaced by fake ones.
Package stolen, replaced with fake
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This exact thing happened to us on Friday afternoon. We live in North Beach on a quiet, dead-end street and when we arrived home there was an empty box that had been refolded closed sitting on our doorstep. Very odd.
I had a package stolen from near Market Street also on Friday. There was no replacement box.
This happened to 2 different friends. One near Loyal Heights and one at Whittier Heights. Any ideas of how to prevent this?
Friday around 12:30 I saw an older van driving down Dibble toward 70th. A woman was slowly driving with three school-age kids in the second seat. The oldest one was dangling his feet out the open side sliding door. My mail person and I watched in disbelief. We both thought it looked like they were looking for stuff to take. A few hours later I saw the same older kid walking on Dibble near 73rd but the van wasn’t in view.
Timet to put out a box with nothing but packing peanuts and three cocked rat traps hidden inside. What a perfect gift for a thief, maybe lose a finger or two.
Must be Christmas, the tweakers are out stealing boxes!
man people have no shame..
so, what’s the M.O. here? do these guys dress in brown shirt/shorts trying to imitate a u.p.s. deliverer by carrying these fake packages to the door then switching them? I wonder if they follow those brown trucks around looking for easy targets.
I keep telling my kids some day I’m going to fill their lunch bags with balls of scrunched up paper if they keep bringing them home uneaten. “I didn’t have time!” they claim. that woud sure teach them a lesson.
the only lesson I can think of here is to grab those packages as soon as you see ’em!
I’ve seen both UPS and FedEX do drop and run with no knock on the door. This happened to me on Friday, I opened my door on Saturday morning, luckily, to a UPS box delivered the evening before.
I don’t always hear them walk up (or what if I’m in the bathroom?)
This is just plain crappy, but I agree, bring the box inside as soon as you know it’s there, and keep an eye out for the ones you expect. And the rat trap one is very tempting, but my guess is it would make you a target.
I’m also thinking one full of dirty diapers would be good, and deceptively heavy.
Used cat litter might be a nice present in a box too.
No, mouse or rat traps.
….or razor blades. The really sharp ones you don’t realize have cut you at first. Take a box full of peanuts, maybe a dozen double sided razors and a label on the box that says there’s an iPhone inside to get these POS really excited and enthusiastic to start rummaging in the box.
This happened to me on Thursday (77th and dibble). 2 packages that were delivered in the morning had been replaced with an empty torn up box. Filed a police report today and the officer suggested that I call 911 if i see anyone suspicious in the area. It sounded like he wasn’t aware of similar incidents in the area. If this has happened to you, I encourage you to file a police report. The SPD non-emergency line is (206) 625-5011. Maybe with enough reports and evidence they can catch the thieves.
Can we get a description?
I saw a light blue/white conversion van recently and took down the license plate number. Was this the color/size of the van you saw?
Could it be this guy again?
[Links disallowed. Please Google “My Ballard Security camera captures man taking package.”]
[Seriously, I am so sick of Disqus requiring comment moderation for any sort of linking. Usually the Swedes never get around to it.]
This happened to me in September (near Whittier Heights).
The box left in return had a bunch of stuff stolen from a neighbor’s carport.
The police came but were less than interested, and definitely made me feel that I was wasting his time. Burglary is NOT a priority to them.
also – UPS is not even ringing the doorbell when they deliver packages – they just drop it on the stoop.
[I can’t believe MyBallard won’t even allow someone to write “dot” followed by “com.”]
Or go to Vimeo [dot etc] and add the number 13931046 to the address.
This guy was so obvious, and so recognizable. If he never even got caught, then no package is safe!
More of a toss this time of year, that’s why they don’t ring the bell…they’d actually have to walk all the way to the door.
I rely on the dog barking and the rumble of the truck driving away.
What a shame! Package theft increases during the holidays. These guys are all about opportunity stealing mail and packages alike… whatever they can get their hands on. When possible use signature required delivery or arrange to pick up packages at the carrier location. Also, beware of mail theft and use a locking mailbox to keep thieves from stealing checks, gift cards, account statements, and other sensitive documents for identity theft.
I received a reply to my police report that said “Major rash of package thefts like someone is following the trucks. FEDEX advised.”
There is no excuse for such thievery, BUT, if it was a package they had been anticipating, why would you not retrieve it immediately?
Put a package on your porch full of packing peanuts with a half-dozen primed mousetraps tapped to the inside bottom?
Yesterday came home in the evening (9th & 77th) to an empty folded box on my porch and my packages stolen.