Porch Pirate Publicly Shamed With Signs On Victim's Front Lawn
CARMICHAEL (CBS13) - A "porch pirate" was caught on camera, and now the Carmichael man who had his packages stolen is taking matters into his own hands.
He took photos from the surveillance video of the thief and mounted them on his front yard. Leif Dubois says he's tired of porch pirates getting away with snatch and grab crimes.
He has multiple cameras all over his Carmichael home, but that still wasn't enough to keep a thief from stealing his packages earlier this month.
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Dubois says he caught the man on those cameras.
"I pulled up my surveillance cameras and I watched the gentleman back into my driveway, and grab all of the packages off my front porch," he said.
The video shows a man driving down Dubois' street, then stopping and backing into his driveway. He gets out and quickly runs to the front porch.
"I think he realized he was on camera on my front porch because he covered his face. What he didn't realize, he was on video from another camera," Dubois said.
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In seconds, $400 worth of packages were swiped from the porch. From baby clothes to H-Vac equipment.
"We are in the time of doing home delivery. It's the risk we all take leaving it out front. I just thought, 'I'm tired of this, and I want to do something about it,'" he said,
Dubois filed a report with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office who told him, "Sorry for your luck, we'll put it on file."
So, Dubois took matters into his own hands. He ordered a three by five-foot sign, with the thief's picture and license plate on it. He then mounted the sign on his front lawn.
"If the gentleman is bold enough to pull in front of my driveway, I'm going to be bold enough to put his picture and license plate on my front yard," he said.
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But we wanted to know, is a sign like this legal? Sacramento County Code Enforcement says the sign may violate county residential sign ordinances, but it may be protected as free speech. The county says it's looking into it.
Some neighbors tell CBS13 they fully support Dubois efforts, hoping it will discourage other pirates from stealing from the neighborhood.
Bryce Hongole said, "It doesn't bother me a bit, I think it's great."
Dubois said, "To me, to me this is the best revenge. I'm not worried about what was taken, this guy's gotta worry about everyone pointing a finger and laughing at him now."
