Man caught on camera taking package off front porch

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indianapolis Metropolitan Police are looking for a man seen taking packages off a front porch.

It happened around 3:00 p.m. Tuesday on Fox Orchard Drive.

Surveillance video shows a man waiting for the Fed Ex truck to pull away before walking up to the front porch and leaving with a box the delivery driver had just left there.

“It upsets you that someone would come on to your property and steal belongings of yours… even someone being on your property that is not welcome in general is kind of an uneasy feeling,” said Zach Huggins.

His home security system is the one that captured the crime on camera.

Huggins shared the video online, hoping someone would recognize the man in the video or the red car seen driving by his house multiple times.

24-Hour News 8 found at least six reports of similar incidents all across town in the past two weeks.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police released these tips to protect your belongings:

• Request a signature confirmation of delivery. By doing this, the deliverer will have to wait until you’re available or else deliver the package to an at-home neighbor.
• Insure valuable items.
• Encourage trustworthy neighbors to watch for deliveries and agree to secure each other’s packages. This includes being watchful for any stranger who is going onto porches or following delivery trucks.
• If you have an understanding boss, have your packages delivered to your office.
• Track packages online to see exactly when they are enroute to your house. Take advantage of couriers’ text notification services letting you know when a package has been delivered.
• Provide special instructions for where to place the delivered packages. A good place might be on the side or back of the house so that the package is out of sight from the road.

Huggins said he and his family will be following those tips from here on out.

As for what was in his stolen box, “a grill cover and ceramic knives, so not really anything,” he said.

He said he was lucky and knows the loss could have been much worse.

“Say that was something my grandmother sent me that was passed down through the family or if it was a gift that she really wanted and it was a hard to find gift and somehow we lucked out and found it. That could ruin a kids Christmas or that could ruin something that has been in the family forever,” said Huggins.

UPS representatives tell 24-Hour News 8 they have a new program to help customers track their packages from their phone. To learn more about that, click here.