A New Yorker turned the tables on a porch pirate and managed to catch the thief red-handed before turning him over to the police.
The Queens homeowner, named Carlos Mejia, was fed up with having his parcels stolen, so he undertook a thief-catching scheme that can only be described as quintessentially ‘New York.’
Carlos Mejia, a homeowner in Queens, was fed up with seeing delivery packages in his neighborhood being stolen
Image credits:lossmokes1
In a viral TikTok video that garnered more than 800,000 views, social media users saw Carlos’ strategy pay off, as the footage captured the thief falling for the fake parcel trap.
“Finally got a thief with decoy boxes,” read the text on the video.
The video showcased the alleged thief, later identified as 30-year-old Victor Stazzone, sneaking into Carlos’ yard and attempting to pilfer a box.
Victor then tried to stash the box in his backpack, not expecting the homeowner to emerge from inside the house in the nick of time. Carlos was captured ambushing the thief and confronting him in the unexpected encounter.
Carlos placed fake packages at his doorstep in the hope of catching a thief red-handed
“Oh, s–t, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. I just didn’t want nobody to take him, bro!” the suspect cried out as Carlos grabbed him with a baseball bat in hand.
“Yo, I just didn’t want nobody to take them, bro,” Victor claimed as he tried to plead with Carlos.
“What you got in there?” the enraged homeowner asked, to which the suspected thief replied, “Nothing, man.”
Victor eventually said, “You can have everything, bro.”
The alleged thief claimed over and over again that he lived on the corner.
A suspect, later identified as Victor Stazzone, was captured sneaking into Carlos’ yard and falling for the bait
“Yo, I’m not– yo! I live right there, bro,” Victor said, but Carlos was not having any of it.
“Get on your knees. Get on your knees right now,” Carlos ordered.
The alleged thief pleaded for mercy, hoping Carlos would let him go. But the homeowner held Victor on the spot until the police arrived.
Carlos held the alleged suspect down until the cops arrived and arrested him
One of the clips also captured Victor trying to escape but being dragged back.
“Officer, what am I being arrested for?” Victor wasquotedasking a cop as he lay face down on the ground while being handcuffed.
Later, another video on TikTok revealed that Carlos’ decoy packages contained nothing more than old French fries and a warning note to potential thieves, highlighting the homeowner’s frustration and determination to deter the porch pirates from swiping packages in the neighborhood.
“Keep stealing our s–t and you wont [sic] make the next year b–ch a– f–king c–t!!” read Carlos’ message.
“Plenty” of his neighbors were “tired of people just following theUPS, FedEx, USPS deliveries and taking everything we work hard for. I was just trying to make an example for those out there doing the same thing … stealing from others,” Carlos told the outlet.
While speaking about his successful attempt at nabbing the thief, Carlos said, “I was just trying to make an example for those out there doing the same thing … stealing from others.”
The New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed in a statement to Storyful that Victor was arrested on March 30.
“The report states that an individual did remove a box from the premise without permission or authority,” NYPD said in a statement to the outlet.
The incident not only underscored the growing issue of parcel theft but also showcased the lengths individuals will go to protect their property and the items bought online with their hard-earned money.
Fans praised Carlos for the simple yet effective trap that the alleged suspect fell for
Renan Duarte
Lei RV
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