CSPD warns of continued parcel thefts

More of us are ordering Christmas presents online, and that creates more opportunities for thieves of delivered packages.

On Wednesday, for the second time in two weeks, a viewer brought video from a home surveillance camera to KRDO NewsChannel 13 that recorded someone stealing a parcel placed on a doorstep by a United Parcel Service delivery driver.

In the latest incident, the homeowner in Mountain Shadows said he and his wife were at home around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when the package arrived, but their camera recorded someone getting out of a car, taking the package and driving away at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Colorado Springs police Sgt. Daniel Thompson said parcel thieves hope they get something they can use or sell to someone else.

“We’ve had suspects who were following the UPS driver around, watching them make deliveries, and then basically following up, trying to steal the packages soon after the deliveries are made,” he said.

The homeowner said the delivery driver didn’t knock or ring the bell when dropping off the parcel, and wondered if that violates UPS policy.

A UPS spokesman said it’s not a policy violation, but that drivers are taught to announce themselves when leaving a package.

In a similar theft two weeks ago, video recorded a woman taking a package from a doorstep near Academy Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway. The homeowner received a call from UPS that the package would be delivered but couldn’t return home before it was taken.

Thompson said such thefts increase during the holidays.

“But there hasn’t been an unusual number of them,” he said.

Police and UPS advise that packages be delivered to your workplace or where someone can receive it for you, or left at a distribution center to be claimed later.

“That’s more inconvenient but it’s unlikely your package will be stolen that way,” he said.

UPS suggests that you contact the package sender for a replacement if your parcel is stolen.