Porch pirate gets busted in Maple Shade

“You know you’re on camera, right?” That phrase thwarted a would be porch pirate in Maple Shade. According to CBS 3 Philly, Rosa Chaves was at work when she got a notification from her Ring doorbell camera that someone was at her door; when she checked the video feed, she saw a masked man on her porch and asked him if he knew he was being watched.

Just to make sure he didn’t get away with it, Chaves’s neighbor had her back. Lennie Schafer happened to be looking out the window and saw the thief casing the neighborhood. As quoted by CBS 3, Shafer said “I saw him bend down and pick that package up, and I thought ut uh! Not on our street! So I immediately went out the front door and onto my porch and started yelling at him,” The thief then reportedly scurried off empty handed.

In a story on our own website, the State Police has some advice to help prevent porch piracy: sign up for alerts so you know where your package is and when it was delivered; have the package sent to your place of employment, and keep an eye on your neighbors’ houses for signs of suspicious activity (which helped in the Maple Shade incident). There is also proposed legislation in New Jersey to increase penalties for the thieves. It’s called the “Defense Against Porch Pirates Act” and would bump the crime from fourth degree to third degree with a lengthier possible jail sentence and a higher fine.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.