Caught On Camera: Arriving Homeowner Foils Porch Thieves In San Jose
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A pair of porch thieves in San Jose got a surprise when the home's resident showed up to catch them in the act.
It happened Wednesday afternoon in a neighborhood in west San Jose near Valley Fair mall.
Security camera video shows a middle-aged woman walking up to the front of a home on Tulip Road and taking a package from the porch.
The footage shows the woman scampering away toward a newer-model dark Dodge Journey SUV that has just pulled up with a man behind the wheel. As the woman tosses the package into the Dodge and gets in the back seat, the homeowner pulls up in her vehicle and stops directly in front of them, honking the horn.
"I'm screaming, saying a few choice cuss words!" said the resident, Heidi Burrows. "I was very keyed up. I said 'I'm going to take your picture, I'm going to call the cops!'"
After she blocked them with her car, the package is tossed out the window and the couple is seen driving off, not before Burrows got a picture of their car and license plate.
Burrrows said she didn't think twice about confronting the couple at the time, but now has second thoughts.
"I was just so upset that someone was stealing a box. My only thought was to block them so I could get a picture." she said. "I know it was probably very ignorant of me because you never know with people nowadays."
Burrows said she immediately called police to report the attempted theft. "So shocking and, I must say, ignorant of them to steal during day and when people are coming home," she said.
As far as the contents of the package? "They would have been so disappointed because inside the box is a box of tape and some packing tissue for my work."
Burrows said San Jose police declined to fill out a report because the package was tossed back onto the curb, but they did issue a "be on the lookout" alert for the SUV and the license plate, 7PVM465.
It's not the first time her home has been hit by package thieves. Burrows said a month and a half ago, a thief was also captured on camera stealing a package, which contained bottles of shampoo.
