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Porch Pirate Leaves 'Brazen And Arrogant' Thank You Note After Swiping Packages
“I do appreciate a nicely-crafted ‘thank you’ note, but this is ridiculous," Hilary Von Smith said after a package was stolen from the porch of her St. Paul, Minnesota home.
Everyone gets a little more gracious around the holidays, but does that even apply to porch pirates when they're stealing your Christmas presents?
At least in Minnesota.
“Porch pirates are the scourge of the holiday season, creeping around neighborhoods at all hours of the day, tip-toeing up to homes, stealing packages that don’t belong to them,” the Saint Paul Police Department said in a statement. “And now they’re leaving ... ... ... thank you notes?”
Last week, St. Paul resident Hilary Von Smith received a baffling note on her doorstep.
“So just a quick little thank you for leaving me the opportunity of stealing your package,” it states. “Very nice of you. Thank You.”
It was signed from “the new owner of your package.”
The package contained a gift for Von Smith boss, local outlet WCCO reports.
“I do appreciate a nicely-crafted ‘thank you’ note, but this is ridiculous. I was angry and confused and quite flabbergasted someone would actually leave a ‘thank you’ note when they steal a package,” Von Smith told the outlet.
She posted a picture of the note on social media, which garnered a lot of attention.
Police called what happened to Von Smith “unbelievable,” and promised the public that they are “doing all we can to identify and arrest these Scrooges.”
They have listed tips to avoid “porch pirates,” which include requiring a signature for delivery, having one’s package delivered to an Amazon locker, a trusted neighbor or a neighborhood store.
“It’s bad enough that we have to worry about people stealing our packages. But now they're leaving thank you notes?” police stated. “Bah humbug.”
Police said package thefts increase during the holiday season; since Oct. 1, 94 package thefts have been reported in St. Paul.
“It’s brazen and arrogant,” Smith told WCCO. “Just making sure we raise awareness that this is really happening, and I don’t want people to have their holiday season wrecked to have something big stolen from them.”
