Woman Returns Package, With Apology Note After Surveillance Video Showed Theft

After a North Park couple posted surveillance video of a woman stealing a package from their door step, it was returned to them several days later, accompanied by a note apologizing for the theft.

Ryan Bruns told NBC 7, he and his wife had ordered a birthday gift online for a child. The gift was some Play-Doh and a Play-Doh kit.

While they were away from home, Bruns got a message that the gift had arrived. But when they got home, their doorstep was empty.

Bruns said his wife suggested checking the security camera. When they did, they spotted the package being delivered and about 10 to 15 minutes later, someone stealing it.

"We saw a woman basically come on our property, walk through our gate, walk on our property, looking over her shoulder to check if anyone was looking, and then take our packages," Bruns said.

The couple posted the video of the woman on the neighborhood social media app "Nextdoor" and received a big response from the community.

"People were sharing and people were commenting because they wanted to catch this person," Bruns said. "And someone recognized her as a neighbor and approached her."

Bruns said what happened next was somewhat of a surprise.

On Sunday, several days after the package was taken, it was placed back at their gate, along with a note.

"She's a mom herself. She has a couple of children. She's not a bad person. This is not something she does on the regular," Bruns said, explaining what it said on the note.

The woman also apologized, Bruns said, and that was enough for him and his wife.

"You know people make mistakes, we forgive her, and hopefully she learned a lesson to never do this again," Bruns said. "Hopefully, other people in the neighborhood learned a lesson too because you know you never know who's watching."

The Bruns said they did not press charges and they removed the video from the "Nextdoor" app. 

Nextdoor is a San Francisco-based company started in 2010. The social media platform was designed to connect people living in the same neighborhood to share events affecting the community.

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