Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/11/box-rigged-with-firecracker-pr.html
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I’m no expert in “package thief videos” as a medium, but this looks staged to me. All the multiple camera angles, the significant amount of time spent reading the package, as if waiting for the firecrackers inside to go off…fishy.
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Package theft has become a real scourge in my neighborhood. Thanks to the shift to online shopping, it’s a viable means of making money, apparently. People actually follow the delivery van around so they can grab the packages within seconds of them being placed on porches.
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Obligatory downer comment: the surprise-maker is committing a much more serious crime than the petty thief. (Your jurisdiction and prosecutor may vary, but broadly speaking.)
I know, I know, serves 'em right. Just saying, IF this is real and IF that was anything bigger than a Christmas Cracker, the trap-layer is exposing him/herself to some pretty nasty charges leveled by shockingly unsympathetic prosecutors.
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Considering the one thing they care about is the number of successful wins on their record… This isn’t terribly shocking.
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Yeah, but I mean, there are also really, really good reasons to want to discourage people from laying traps designed to injure (or with the potential to injure) other people.
The Platonic ideal of the just and fair prosecutor would also be a real hardass about this.
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One of the many benefits of being a Homeowner is that you can drill holes in things with relative impunity.
As a beneficiary of said status, I am strongly tempted to drill a small hole in my front porch.
After admiring my work I would then secure 10ft of cable to an Amazon Box with the cable exiting via the “bottom” and threaded through hole (previously drilled).
Once passed through the hole, the other end of the cable would be secured to a small weight or reel under the porch.
Here comes someone interested in the box!
They snag it and start to walk or run away when…* YOINK! *
Ideally the weight or reel pulls the box back into place for the next time. But manual reset is an option.
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Well, obviously. I had a package of mine opened once by a prospective thief, and they put it back because they didn’t know WTF it was. Don’t see me rigging IED’s on my doorstep.
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Regardless of all the above (authenticity, legalities, etc)…I’d add that I do not believe that is a “he”. The body type and movements lead me to believe it is a “she”. I do not think it matters what gender they are, more just around accuracy or pronouns used.
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Also the fact that there’s some kind of message taped to the top package, instead of an address. Doesn’t automatically rule out it being genuine, but adds to the suspicions.
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probably a warning.
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Perchance the fence “scaling” movements? Looks iffy for either gender, but rarely see males doing that. Would’ve likely tried a little harder to get the latch open.
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Looks feminine to me.
I’m thinking purple ink/skunk spray might work better.
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One of my parents’ friends in Europe got tired of people breaking in and stealing from their cottage they set up a bb-gun at the door. You know of course where this is going. They totally forgot about it and the next time they came to the cottage the wife got a bb in the chest.
Though I suppose one of those explosive dye packs might be a handy thing for these thieves. Then again, maybe it might be better to make some kind of mailbox door to the inside, if you are expecting a package or simply pick it up at the depot.
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I can’t say what the veracity of this particular video is, but generally package theft is a recurring issue. I have seen videos and articles of people getting packages lifted so often the homeowner starts to take measures against the thieves. So why wouldn’t it make sense for the homeowner to put various cameras on their property? Does this automatically mean it’s staged? Nah, to me this means the homeowner is frustrated and is willing to carefully document whats going on so they can catch these scumbags.
Also i’ve seen these “exploding” packages before, i think it was last year around this time. Someone rigged it to detonate shotgun blanks inside the box and it scared the hell out of the lady lifting the package. People also have taken to filling up fake packages with trash, dog poop, GPS trackers, etc.
Edit: from last year…
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No, certainly not. As I wrote, I’m no expert, just seems fishy. More so the time spent on the porch than the multiple angles. I’d expect it to be a quicker in-and-out kind of theft. But then again, I hear of thieves watching TV and hanging out in the homes they’re burgling, so who’s to say package chiefs don’t linger on porches getting some light reading done?
ETA: I agree wholeheartedly that package theft is real, and it’s annoying as f*ck. This video looks like a staged version of a real scourge.
I kind of agree that explosives and sparks probably aren’t advisable for this sort of thing but there are plenty of other ways to startle would-be thieves. After seeing this video I would be motivated to mount a camera at a lower angle that peers right into their face and snaps a photo. Preferably capturing their expression mid-startle. And projecting it instantly onto a sheet in a window.
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there wasn’t anything scientific about it…just an observation. And yes that was partly it…watching the person climb over in and out all I kept thinking was OUCH. its just not how a male would typically speaking climb over. Would lead to some sore nether bits.
Doesn’t technically matter the gender of said perpetrator. More just being a stickler I guess.
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