Denver metro No. 1 in the nation for package theft as holiday shopping nears

DENVER — Amazon is gearing up for its Prime Early Access Sale this week, which will offer up deals similar to its famous “Prime Day” in the summer. More than 300 million purchases were made on Prime Day this July, according to Amazon, which added up to $1.7 billion in savings for customers. All those deliveries, though, also create opportunities for porch pirates.

The Denver metro was top in the country for package thefts in 2021, according to a report from SafeWise in 2021, edging out the previous title holder of San Francisco. According to Denver police, 939 packages have been reported stolen this year. That’s slightly lower than the number of reports at this point last year, but higher than this point in 2020 and more than double compared to this time in 2017.

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Denver7 spoke to Sonia Mookherjea of Aurora, who recently became a victim of this trend when she had more than $250 worth of online purchases stolen from her doorstep. Mookherjea shared doorbell camera footage of the moment a woman ran up to her door and made off with her two packages.

“It’s such a violation,” Mookherjea said. “I spent my hard-earned money getting some items that I wanted, and to not be able to receive them and have them stolen by someone who doesn’t own them and has no right to be on my property — it’s hurtful and disturbing.”

Thief steals package from Aurora doorstep

While porch piracy is on the rise, so are hopeful deterrents against them. Statista projects

Americans will spend $5.8 billion on smart home security such as doorbell cameras and smart locks this year, and more than $8 billion by 2025. Those who have already installed this technology are sharing footage of thieves not only with police but with their friends and neighbors on social media. Mookherjea quickly posted her footage to the NextDoor app, so, specifically, the people who live near her could see it.

“The comments keep coming,” Mookherjea said of the response. “The intention of putting it on NextDoor and also just sharing with my friends on social media was, you know, does someone recognize her? Can someone help recognize the car? Because I feel like she probably doesn’t live too far from here if she’s keeping an eye on my house and my packages.”

While no comments have led her or police to the thief yet, Mookherjea is keeping her fingers crossed as the video gets shared further. Above all, she wants the broader message of vigilance to be shared.

“I think it’s important for neighbors to help each other out, and be aware that this is going on,” she said.