MACON, Ga. — Lonnie Anderson describes an image on his home security camera as "gut-wrenching."
"I thought it was my son getting off work, so I didn't check it. I gave it a few more minutes and just go ahead and check it, and when I looked, it was a female coming up on the porch, and she grabs the packages at the door," says Anderson.
Anderson's doorbell camera picked up footage of a woman taking two packages, getting into the passenger side of a Chevy suburban, and driving away.
Anderson says, "You hear about it all the time, but you never think it will happen to you, and you work hard for the thing you do have, even if it's little."
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office identified the alleged "porch pirate" as 35-year-old Melissa Spires.
She is wanted on charges for theft by taking and criminal trespass.
The stolen packages had women's boots and children's toys inside. They were meant for Christmas.
Anderson says, "One of the presents was for our grand-kids, and another present was for my wife."
"Opportunity -- if they see an opportunity they take it no matter where they're at," says Bibb County Sheriff's Office Investigator, Dennis Terry.
Terry says the holiday season brings out the "porch pirates."
"The thief knows that UPS delivery people are getting packages through the mail. They know they sit around and look for these types of things," says Terry.
He goes on to say that Spires had theft charges before. She was previously arrested three other times for stealing.
"We see repeat offenders all the time, and she is one of them," says Terry.
He says pay attention to delivery times and track packages on devices like smartphones.
If you can't be home when it delivers, ask someone for help.
"A neighbor or a relative to go get it, they'll actually tell you it's 20 minutes away, it'll be delivered between 1 and 2, and you can have someone go pick it up," says Terry.
Anderson plans to follow that advice, "Try and hide them the best they can or either we'll just have to start coming and picking them."
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