Holiday decorations stolen off Bend porches
From Christmas to Halloween decorations, nothing's off limits - but cameras catch more culprits in the act
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- During the holiday season, packages are often swiped from porches -- and as online shopping grows in popularity, so do the risks. People living in Bend have also had smaller items stolen, including decorations.
A Bend family said Thursday it had several holiday decorations stolen. The family say they stole their light strips and other decorations. In October, the family also had some Halloween decorations stolen.
Kitt Hawkins lives on the southwest side of Bend. He had a sentimental candy bowl stolen from his porch on Halloween. Hawkins said he was not bothered by the candy being stolen, but he felt it was unnecessary for the thief to leave with the bowl, too.
“I didn’t mind the candy being taken, but the bowl was important -- it was my girlfriend's,” Hawkins said. “It had sentimental value, and they just picked it up and said 'happy Halloween!' and walked away.”
Hawkins installed a Ring doorbell to keep his packages safe but didn’t expect that it would be something else stolen off his porch.
“You know, there are some people that are in tougher times, and I can see where they would want to steal,” Hawkins said. “I sure don’t condone it, but with the advent of with all these nice home security devices, everyone is going to be on film eventually.”
If you're worried about your packages but don’t have a security system, an alternative to keep your packages safe would be to purchase a post office box through the U.S. Postal Service. At the post office, packages can be kept safe, with no worry of whether or not they can be stolen.
To stay updated on crimes like these ,you can follow the Bend crime map. The map will plot reported police crimes, at the exact address it happened.
If you are interested in knowing more, once you're on the map, you can also sign up for neighborhood crime alerts (in the upper right corner) that will automatically email a breakdown of recent crime activity in the city.