Crime & Safety

Apalachee Farms, Hamilton Mill Residents Targeted by Package Thieves

Alert neighbor called police after witnessing one of the thefts.

Picking a target is easy for package thieves -- just follow a UPS or FedEx truck until a driver makes a delivery. Once the driver leaves and the coast is clear, grab the package and go.

That is exactly what one thief did during a Sept. 25 incident witnessed by a neighbor of the intended package recipient.  A Mill Valley Drive resident in the Stonewood section of Hamilton Mill happened to see a UPS truck leaving his neighbor's house. A few minutes later, a vehicle -- similar in size and appearance to a silver Subaru Outback -- stopped in front of the house.

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"[The neighbor] said a white male around the age of 20 opened up the back door of the vehicle, started jogging up the driveway, took the packages from the front steps and quickly got back in the vehicle before it drove off," the officer wrote in the report.

The neighbor described the male as having short brown hair and wearing an orange t-shirt and khaki shorts. The vehicle had a Georgia tag, but the neighbor was unable to provide the plate number.

While the officer was speaking with the neighbor, the intended package recipient arrived home. She explained that she and her husband frequently order package from Amazon. After checking tracking information on an expected shipment, she determined the thief had stolen a water system pump and flow tech hose valued at $95.83.

That same day, thieves struck at a Millside Terrace home, also in Hamilton Mill. The intended package recipient said she learned of the theft when a neighbor found empty boxes with her address listed. The woman said shoes, several shirts and vitamins were taken.

The neighbor who found the empty boxes advised police the boxes had been left in the street near her home. The woman also found boxes belonging to other neighbors.

Also on Sept. 25, a Floral Ridge Drive resident received notification a package from Nordstrom had been delivered to her residence. When the woman arrived home, the package was nowhere to be found. 

A similar incident occurred on Oct. 1 in Apalachee Farms. In an email to Dacula Patch, a Terraces Way resident wrote that he had an Amazon delivery stolen off his front porch at some point between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. A neighbor found the empty boxes one block over on River Valley Drive.

The cases are listed as active.



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