DENVER – It's already starting. Porch pirates targeting your holiday deliveries.
In one video posted this week, a thief walks up and steals a huge patio bench off a front porch in Northfield Stapleton.
And several posts show a white truck and a man jumping out of it walking around porches with a flashlight.
"Today there was a post about a white pick-up truck, single cab. It matched what everybody else caught on camera that night,” said Adina Torberntsson.
Someone stole the Torberntsson’s Halloween decorations.
“I walked outside and all of the sudden everything is gone,” she said. “They had taken pumpkins, fake tombstones, skeletons. It felt somewhat like a violation because the inflatables were plugged in really close to my front door."
Denver Police statistics show a spike in residential package thefts in September and October of 2019 compared to the same period last year -- nearly twice as many, and those are the reported thefts. Police say the vast majority of petty theft goes unreported.
Police say if you know you're not going to be home, have your package delivered somewhere else - perhaps to your work or to a trusted neighbor’s house who you know will be home.
As the holidays approach, police also suggest choosing a shipping option that requires a signature.
