Residents in the Letitia Heights neighbourhood of Barrie are on high alert, after a man was caught on camera stealing packages from front porches time and time again this week.
Barrie police confirmed officers are investigating five different occurrences this week, where a suspect was seen on surveillance footage taking parcels moments after they had been delivered.
Salena McLeod is one of those residents.
The single mother of three said she had two packages stolen by the same individual on Monday. The first incident was around 12:30 p.m., where a man in a surgical mask, black pants, a black and green vest, white long sleeve and dark sunglasses, walked up and grabbed her package.
At 12:54 p.m., a delivery driver from Amazon dropped off another package. Five minutes later, McLeod’s security camera caught the same man walking up with an empty parcel, placing it on her doorstep, and taking the package that had just been delivered.
“When I got home, I was expecting multiple packages and I picked it up and it was empty and tore open and I was like, ‘that’s weird,” McLeod told CTV News. “Once I went inside and looked at the package, seeing that it wasn’t addressed to me, I immediately went to my camera footage to see if I could see what happened.”
McLeod’s footage captured the man walking back to a black, newer model four-door sedan. The suspect is seen getting into the passenger side of the vehicle, followed by an unknown driver driving away.
“I was able to contact the woman who that package belonged to,” McLeod said. “She had seen that somebody had come to her house and stole as well, it was the same person.”
In total, McLeod’s packages amounted to $400 worth of merchandise that had been stolen.
She contacted police about opening an investigation and later posted her video to social media, where several others said they too had been targeted.
“I got a notification that my delivery was on my porch and my husband happened to be home, so two minutes after it was delivered, he came out on the porch to get the package and the package was not there,” said Tatyana Pinto on Wednesday. “I got an actual photo saying it was delivered and it was on my porch, so I know that the package would have been there.”
Pinto told CTV News her security cameras were not in operation at the time the package was delivered, but her husband found an empty Amazon package on the porch.
Pinto got in contact with the individual, who said they also had an empty parcel that was dropped off in place of their stolen package.
“It’s very bold,” said Peter Leon of the Barrie Police Service. “The thing that’s quite shocking about it is knowing that many people in our society do have surveillance cameras on their property. It’s almost as if he’s challenging the people by looking up into the camera and they’re getting a great shot, which is assisting us.”
Leon said all five occurrences that have been reported to police stem from the same area of the city. When asked if thieves leaving empty parcels behind is a common occurrence, Leon said that it is the first time police have encountered this.
Investigators believe that the suspects may had been following around delivery vehicles throughout the course of their spree.
“If you see a dark vehicle, four-door import, following a delivery vehicle coming into your neighbourhood, give us a call,” Leon said. “It’s best to be on the side of caution, but again, you may just be the person that puts this investigation where it needs to be at a conclusion with the individual being charged.”
