Porch pirate caught stealing packages from Castle Hayne home

CASTLE HAYNE, NC (WWAY) — It’s the most wonderful time of the year — for porch pirates.

A Castle Hayne woman says she recently had three packages stolen from her porch during the day.

Audra Rackley says she was working from home when she got the notification from her Ring doorbell that there was motion detected outside.

She ignored the notification only to find out someone pulled into her driveway, approached her home, and stole packages from her front porch around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

“We’ve never had any issues before and it was in the middle of the day, my car was in the driveway,” Rackley said. “It was quite shocking that they just pulled right into the driveway, walked right up and took the packages and left.”

Rackley says she has filed a police report. She also posted photos of the incident online and with the power of social media she believes she knows who took the packages.

Wilmington Police Spokeswoman Jessica Williams says there are a few ways to prevent greedy grinches from stealing your gifts.

• Don’t leave packages unattended for long periods of time. You can sign up for delivery notification so you know when your items have arrived, taking them inside as quickly as possible.
• Leave delivery instruction to have them place in a safe location.
• Shop in store at a local business, if you feel comfortable doing so.

Rackley says she’s heeding advice like this to make sure her packages will always end up in the right hands.

Williams added that tracking down stolen packages is very difficult. Without photos, videos or witnesses to the crime, all police have to go on is the tracking number for the package and that’s typically discarded along with the box as soon as the thief opens it. She emphasizes prevention is key.