A Saratoga man is taking some aggressive, and some say “extreme” steps to protect himself and his neighbors from mail and package thieves.
Wayne Garrahan said thieves are mostly after credit cards and amazon packages but recently, they stole something special from a neighbor’s little boy and he said he had to step in and help.
“I’ve actually put an alarm on my mailbox at night, I’ve got cameras that point directly at the mailbox, as well as cameras that point down the street, so I can pick up license plate numbers. Such that if somebody takes my mail, you’re going to get caught,” said Garrahan.
During the holiday season, the problem gets worse. Garrahan said he found a pile of mail scattered all over a street near his house Thursday, and he figured it was leftovers after another mail theft. In that pile however, he found something he couldn’t ignore.
“I found a letter from Santa Claus to a little boy,” said Garrahan. “When my kids were young, Santa Claus wrote them letters and it meant an awful lot to them and I couldn’t let that little boy not have his letter from Santa.”
He decided to deliver the letter to the boy himself.
“He was super excited which kind of made my Christmas,” Garrahan said.
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The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said it sees a spike in mail and package thefts this time of year and that there are steps resident can take to protect themselves.
“If you’re going to get a package delivered to your house, make sure you get a package delivered in the time frame that you’re going to be home or have the delivery service require a signature,” said Deputy Jessica Gabaldon from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
They also suggest it gets delivered to a P.O. Box or Amazon Locker.
Depending on the value of the item that someone steals from a person’s mailbox or porch, the sheriff’s office said the crime could be a misdemeanor or even a felony.
