HOUSTON – A Houston man claims a porch pirate dressed as a delivery man snagged a package from his home.
Resident Billy Bryant says he never would have suspected the man wearing a brown seasonal worker vest wasn’t an actual UPS driver if the vehicle the man pulled up in had not given it away.
Bryant, who lives in a gated west Harris County community, said he was home at 3 p.m. on Jan. 20 when a real UPS driver delivered his wife’s package.
Less than 30 minutes later, Bryant’s home surveillance cameras caught the imposter pulling up.
“He’s walking up here,” Bryant said. “When he bends over, you can see his UPS vest. You can see him take his phone and hold it over the package. But you can see it’s just the menu on his phone. He’s not really doing anything.”
Then, the porch pirate takes off with the box.
“It was some houseware,” he said. “It was a pot that my wife had ordered. It was about $300.”
Bryant said he was able to retrieve a surveillance photo of the porch pirate driving into the gated community.
“We ran a check on the license plate and it looks like it doesn’t belong,” he said. “He was driving a black Chevy Impala, and the license plate belonged to a Honda CRV.”
Bryant said the package thief used a code to enter the gate of their property.
He said he reported the crime to both the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and UPS.
“They [UPS] said they had proof that they delivered the package and that the case was closed, that they didn’t send anybody to pick it up,” he said.
He’s now working with his credit card company to see if he can replace the stolen item with his insurance.
UPS sent KPRC 2 the following response:
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will immediately look into the situation. If a package is stolen, the customer should contact the shipper and file a police report. UPS will work with the customer and the local law enforcement to resolve this issue.”