Doorstep Package Thefts Put San Jose Neighborhood on Alert

A San Jose neighborhood is on alert after neighbors reported packages left on doorsteps have been stolen -- sometimes minutes after being delivered.

Neighbors suspect the thief may be following delivery trucks and snatching up items once they have been delivered.

"It's very quick," said Dirk Wierema, who lives in the Rose Garden neighborhood. "A neighbor yesterday had a package delivered at 1 o'clock by UPS and he came home at 2, and it was gone."

Neighbors have been alerting each other through an online group. It turns out one of the residents saw the thief.

Surveillance video from a neighbor shows a man strolling up to the porch and stealing the package. Sally Guan posted the video on the neighborhood group after hearing her neighbors were hit by the theft.

On Tuesday, neighbor Al Shultz had his UPS package stolen, which has him thinking twice about ordering anything online.

"I'm not sure what I'd order online now," he said. "I mean, cameras and stuff are expensive -- and who's to say if I'd even get it?"

Guan said her family has every right to order items and expect them to be there when they return home.

"They're doing something wrong -- they shouldn't do it," Guan said. "They're doing something wrong. There should be no place for them in society."

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