People believe same porch pirate is stealing packages

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    SCRANTON, PA (WNEP) — People in Scranton believe the same porch pirate is stealing packages from porches after he is caught on several cameras Sunday afternoon.

They are asking for help in identifying him and contacting Scranton Police.

Pictures captured by surveillance cameras catch a man walking up to this two-family house on Alder Street in Scranton where he is seen taking packages off the front steps of both the apartments.

Joe Sclafani and his fiancee Paulina Gonzalez live in one unit and say their packages had been placed in a bag outside for Gonzalez’s sister who was coming to pick them up on Sunday afternoon.

Sclafani says the packages were gone when she arrived.

Now with these pictures, they know what happened.

“You can see the suspect walking off of my steps and walking to the next-door neighbor’s steps and actually taking those boxes as well,” said Sclafani.

Gonzalez posted about the theft on Facebook, saying there was about $300 worth of gifts taken just from them.

The couple says they filed a police report with Scranton police and posted those surveillance pictures to Facebook in the hopes someone could identify who took their packages.

“More people, they contacted me. They sent me video clips, they sent his license plate,” said Gonzalez, who says multiple people responded to her post, saying that man stole items off their porches.

Among the people reaching out to the couple was Stephanie Dearborn who lives on Schultz Court in Scranton.

She believes the man caught in this video recorded by her Ring doorbell stealing packages from her porch is the same man who stole from Sclafani and Gonzalez.

Dearborn says the theft happened on the same day around the same time; Sunday afternoon.

“They had posted pictures and it’s the same exact guy with the same exact clothing,” said Dearborn. “He walked up to the porch, took our packages, got back into the vehicle, drove off.”

Dearborn says the alleged thief did return to her home after her family tracked down people who reportedly know him and told them they had contacted police.

Dearborn says this Ring video shows him coming back where he tosses her stolen items onto the porch.

As for Sclafani and Gonzales, their items remain missing.

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