AUSTIN, Texas — It's a big shopping weekend coming up, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday mean a lot of packages coming to your porch.
But as we all know by now, package thieves are a real issue.
One Austin man wants to share with others a lesson after he became a victim.
Even in a place where we feel safe sometimes, we need that extra eye on what's happening.
"Brand new neighborhood, not much commotion going on," described Brandon Comisarenco, who's now glad he had the extra security of a doorbell camera.
Someone took a package right off his southeast Austin porch on Sunday night and he was a little more brazen than most.
"He walks right up the porch and seems to knows where exactly the camera is there, looks right at it," said Comisarenco, describing the video. "Our neighbor drove by, so he kind of hangs behind the column for a little bit, but ... grabs the package and runs away. He's definitely bold."
"He's got to know it's a camera; he's got to know," said Sgt. Noel Guerin with APD. "We take it very seriously."
Sgt. Guerin said this time of year is when police hear more about mail thefts like this one.
"Everybody is having these things delivered because it's easy and super convenient to have it dropped at your doorstep," he said. "But it's just not a smart idea to have it sitting there, especially in the middle of the night."
Sgt. Guerin suggests having a neighbor grab it or getting it dropped off at an office.
Since the Texas Legislature passed a bill increasing the penalty for mail theft, he thinks at some point the price would be too much for thieves like this guy.
RELATED: Attention porch pirates! New Texas law makes it a felony to steal packages starting Sept. 1
"Something's got to give," he added.
"It's worth reminding folks that, hey, this is a problem, especially at this time," said Comisarenco "Thankfully it was just a Christmas tree that was in the package, so he's going to be sorely disappointed."
He just wants to make sure other people learn from what happened to him.
"I made the mistake that there was a package on my front porch, and it got taken. So hopefully this can serve as a reminder for folks to be a little more careful," said Comisarenco.
If you know the man in the photo, APD wants to hear from you.
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