As “porch pirates” across the country set their sights on unopened delivered packages this holiday season, one Pennsylvania man is determined to give these thieves a taste of their own medicine.
Homeowner Robert Lynch said he gave the thieves a special “gift” this Christmas by leaving out boxes filled with kitty litter and feces on his porch to see if thieves would take the bait.
The 61-year-old said he decided to put the boxes out after thieves ransacked his car twice over the past three years. The first time, the bandits took away $60 in change. The second time, they made off with $500 worth of tools.
“I forgot it, well yeah, I sort of forgot about it, but then I thought, ‘No, I’m going to play some games,'” said Lynch.
Sure enough, Lynch’s surveillance camera caught one of the “porch pirates” stealing one of the boxes filled with kitty litter.
“When I first saw it, I thought I couldn’t believe somebody would take that. But then I laughed about it. If I was on the bus and sitting by that person and they opened the box, I mean the smell was unbelievable,” Lynch said.
Police are reportedly on board with Lynch’s scheme so long as he does not harm anyone in the process.
Lynch’s idea also inspired his neighbors to pull off similar pranks to ward off thieves. His neighbors are now filling boxes with trash, placing them on their front porches, and waiting to see if thieves take the boxes.
While “porch pirates” have targeted many homes this holiday season, some police departments across the country are catching on to their schemes.
One police department announced it would be using fake packages to hoodwink would-be package thieves.
The Jersey City Police Department announced this month that they are trying to track down the “porch pirates” pilfering packages from their victims by using decoy Amazon packages as bait.
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