This is some funny vigilante justice.
Have you ever ordered a package, and you count down the days until it reaches your door? And then, has that package ever gone missing, or worse, been stolen? In the age of so many delivery services, it seems like everyone has heard a story about a package stolen off of someone’s front porch. But what you may not have heard about, is the creative ways that some people are fighting back against these robberies.
After a string of thefts of packages on his porch, Matt Coats decided to take matters into his own hands.
Since moving to Portland, Oregon, Coats has become familiar with porch pirates: those thieves who will walk up to your yard and take your package off of your porch. He had experienced this a few times, and described the experience as a violation, saying:
“I think the worst part about porch piracy is just feeling so violated. To have somebody come up into your space and take something that’s yours.”
When another package was stolen off of his doorstep, he decided to do something about it. The result was a different kind of ‘sweet revenge.’
Matt was fed up, and had to take matters into his own hands. Because this issue is so prevalent, Matt rightly guessed that another porch pirate would strike again, and take another valuable package off of his property.
He decided that he had to act fast, and creatively. So Matt did something you might not consider doing: he filled up an REI box with poop from his dog. Then, he left the box on the porch and waited to see what a potential porch pirate would do.
Did his ploy actually trick anyone?
After three days of the “stinky” package sitting on Matt’s porch, there was finally a taker. Because Matt had a porch security camera installed, he could see a lot of the theft go down. First, the thief stopped at Matt’s neighbors yard and stole a light projector right off the lawn. Then, the thief ambles over to Matt’s porch and grabs the waste-filled package. But the thief didn’t stop there, he went to Matt’s other neighbor’s lawn and stole another package with $120 worth of clothing.
Matt couldn’t see the reaction of the thief, but he knows his trick was worth it.
Although the burglar walked off the premises before opening the package full of “you know what,” Matt knows that eventually they realized what was going on. A friend texted Matt to let him know that about four blocks from his house, the package was left on the street. It would have been great to see the thief’s reaction, but knowing that they might have learned their lesson is good enough.
Matt plans to continue making porch piracy hard for those who attempt it.
He has a few more pranks planned, and hopefully these will help put a stop to his porch violations. For other pranks, he is going to fill an Amazon package with tree trimmings and dish soap, as well as filling a bigger box with a tree stump. That’s one way to get rid of your outdated holiday decorations!
Matt has a philosophy to this: it might be hard to put a stop to this thievery, but at least you get to have some fun. He told KGW8:
“If we’re going to be annoyed, why not have a little fun with it? Why not make their lives kind of a pain too?”
To make things even better, Matt has footage of the porch pirates due to his security camera — and he’s posted videos for us all to get a laugh out of!
You may not want to try Coats’ version of protecting your property, and fortunately, the Portland Police Bureau offers other ways to protect against porch theft.
Some of the tips they include are:
- Ship your package somewhere that you know someone you trust will be able to accept the package and hold it for you.
- Place your deliveries and all mail on hold until you get home from vacation.
- Leave specific instructions for where delivery workers should leave your package, and try to keep the package out of sight.
Learn more about this sweet revenge by watching the video below!
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