Waking up one morning earlier this month, a Bluemont resident found himself down a backpack and a pair of shoes.
The items were airing out on a porch on 6th Street N., having been sprayed with bug spray, and were nowhere to be found come daybreak, the victim told ARLnow. Surveillance footage captured a suspect approaching and walking off with the items after midnight.
“At least there was nothing valuable inside the backpack,” the items’ rightful owner said. “He struggles with lifting it off the porch because it is filled with sand I use for weight training.”
The Arlington County Police Department is investigating the incident, spokesperson Ashley Savage said.
Arlington larceny cases rose from 184 incidents in the first quarter of 2024 to 274 incidents in the third quarter, according to ACPD’s crime data hub.
To avoid porch piracy this holiday season, Savage encouraged residents to take advantage of theft prevention services that delivery companies offer.
Customers using FedEx, for example, can request to keep a package at a FedEx facility or require a signature to collect — tools that have “proven very helpful in combating porch piracy,” a company spokesperson said.
“Our solutions such as FedEx Delivery Manager, Estimated Time Delivery Window, and the FedEx mobile app offer recipients a convenient experience with more control over the timing and location of their deliveries,” the FedEx spokesperson said.
UPS also offers a variety of options to limit risk, according to a spokesperson, including:
- Customers can sign up for a free service called UPS My Choice, which sends an email alert that lets them know when their package is scheduled to be delivered.
- If customers are at work during the day, they can use UPS My Choice to have packages delivered to where they work or to a UPS Access Point® location. They can also choose to have their deliveries sent to a relative or neighbor who is home during the day.
- Customers can tell our driver where they’d like packages left with UPS My Choice. For example, in the shed in the backyard, or behind the garage. UPS drivers can also enter that information into their handheld computers for future deliveries.
Savage noted that “thefts are often crimes of opportunity, with thieves stealing unattended items or items out in plain view.”
“Report thefts to police for investigation by filing an online police report or calling the Alternate Reporting Unit (ARU) at 703-228-4300,” she advised.
