TORONTO -- An Ontario woman frustrated with porch pirates has decided to take matters into her own hands by leaving a surprise for thieves at her front door.
Over the years Hamilton resident Laurie Pringle has had several of her parcels stolen from her front porch. Pringle lives on a busy downtown street and she and her neighbours were fed up after yet another package had been stolen.
“I thought that these guys should be on Santa’s naughty list, and I thought maybe if I don’t have any coal – I can contribute something I do have,” said Pringle.
That’s when she decided to teach the thieves a lesson.
Pringle filled an empty Amazon box with used cat litter and left it at her front door, as if it were another package she ordered. It only took 40 minutes before the security footage showed a man stuffing the excrement-filled box into his jacket and taking off.
She said she wishes that she could have seen his reaction when opening the package.
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“I’m kind of sad I didn’t get to see that. If I could figure out a remote camera to put inside – I would love that,” said Pringle.
Rather than reporting the theft to police, Pringle posted the security footage on social media – a move that has gotten her much praise.
“I guess everyone has gone through this and annoyed by it and I think they are just happy to see someone get their comeuppance,” she said.
FedEx has published a survey of 1,500 Canadians this holiday season and found nearly a third of online shoppers say they have experienced package theft in 2020, compared to one in four in 2019. The survey also found that three in 10 are worried about their online purchases being stolen when delivered.
“At least every other month something was stolen,” said Pringle.
Police encourage residents who are worried about their parcels being stolen to consider alternative methods of delivery.
“What we recommend is either having a designated drop area or arranging times for someone to be home to receive those packages to try to reduce those kinds of incidences,” said Michelle Flannery, a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service.
