Posted on 12/31/2014 5:35:06 AM PST by KeyLargo
More Than $5,000 Worth of MS Medicine Stolen From Tinley Park Man's Porch
The 28 stolen pills were worth $5,166.51, police said.
By Joseph Hosey (Patch Staff) December 30, 2014 at 6:14pm
The man was expecting to receive a package of Gilenya on Dec. 19. He left his home about 7 a.m. that day. When he returned about 12 hours later, the package was not there, police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at patch.com ...
Bah, humbug: Front porch holiday parcel thefts rising
Jobin Panicker, WFAA 10:55 p.m. CST December 18, 2014
FARMERS BRANCH – Burk Goldthorn has a nice setup at his home-office. It allows him a nice view of his yard whenever he likes.
That’s a benefit that may have kept the Farmers Branch resident from being a victim of a recent rash of porch thefts.
“She walked straight up to my house, just like casually — not in a hurry,” he said.
Goldthorn said a woman walked up to his home and he expected a doorbell ring, but instead saw her with his mail.
“She had a package I was expecting and my mail in her hand,” he said.
She was a complete stranger, stealing from him in broad daylight. Goldthorn would get his stuff back after an awkward exchange.
“It happened to me last year and I didn’t report it,” said a neighbor who did not want to be identified. “So this year, I reported it.”
After I called the Post Office and police, the officer actually was able to contact the woman who's house payment had been snagged, and she was apparently able to stop payment on it.
Dumb. Any package that is to be delivered to my address has a stipulation, if package is not deliverable, if not home, please take package to the Post Office, will pick up package when I return. This has been a policy for years. It works great and nothing gets misplaced, stolen or misdirected. No medications are to ever be left on the deck, too. With the theft of packages that has happened in the past I learned my lesson the hard way - Gabapentin left in 2008 on the deck - can be sold for quite a bit on the street. An 18 year old girl was watching for medication packages and when she saw the package left on the deck - return address medical provider she took the package. A 90 day supply of medications netted her $3000.00.
When I get morphine tablets, that is when I go to the pharmacy - a narcotic. I pick up the medication and carry my pistol in a harness. I park in front of the store, wheelcahir in and out and keep an eye out for anyone watching me. The junkies are looking for a quick fix. This month there has 9 arrests in the little area I live in for prescription drug thefts and heroin.
I never put a piece of mail in my mail box with the flag up or down. I just don’t do it. I always take to post office.
As for packages, I pretty much track whatever I purchase online and know what days they are expected to arrive, and I watch for them. I also have a wireless remote alarm that goes off when the door to the mailbox is opened.
Mail...who uses mail?
Amazon. UPS often hands packages off to the USPS for final delivery. I think they call it Smart Post or something.
I live in an area where UPS doesn’t serve very well.
Me....I'm not quite stupid enough to go online for banking and bill paying; the closest I get is a monthly direct deposit, and that's only because there's no alternative.
Me rarely. Almost any mail or package goes into the main mail box at the post office after APC generates the postage.
If it is important, it goes UPS or Fedex.
I’ve kept a UPS Store box for so many years and found it to be cheap and effective security. They sign for my stuff, send me an alert when a package shows, and in the past few years missplaced one package (it was a Christmas flood) that was found the next day. I never have anything of real value mailed here.
How to keep doorstep thieves from ruining your holiday
By CHAD UMBLE | Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 4:36 pm
Combined, UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service estimate that they will deliver more than 1.3 billion packages this holiday season.
That’s a lot of boxes landing on doorsteps and potentially staying there long enough to draw the attention of thieves.
While not widespread, thefts of packages that have been delivered to homes are not surprising this time of year, said Lt. Tammy Marsh of the East Hempfield Township Police Department.
On Monday, the contents of at least half a dozen packages were reported stolen from porches of homes in East Hempfield Township. The items were valued between $16.60 and $95 and included a down vest, a sweatshirt and a dress.
“Quite frankly with online shipping become the norm, there’s just so many packages being deliver,” said Marsh. “It is a crime of opportunity.
Here are some tips from delivery companies and police for preventing the theft of packages, and what to do if a theft occurs.
How can I keep my package from getting stolen?
• Customize delivery. Delivery companies allow for specific instructions that could include having a packaged delivered to the back door, behind a bush, or in a shed.
• If you can, have the package delivered to your work.
• Have the packaged delivered to a trusted friend, relative or neighbor who you know will be home during the day.
• Specify that you want to have the package picked up at the shipping center. It’s less convenient, but safer.
• Request a signature. This may not help if no one will be home when the package arrives, but it will keep it from being left on a doorstep in plain view.
What should I do if I think my package has been stolen?
• Make sure the package has actually been delivered. Using a tracking number, see for yourself that the package has been left at your address, noting that it may not have arrived at the exact delivery time noted in the system.
• Check with your neighbors. Packages sometimes get delivered to the wrong address, so see if someone else got it by mistake.
What should I do if I’m sure my package has been stolen?
• Remember that any insurance taken out on a package will not cover theft after delivery. The delivery company’s obligation to care for your package essentially stops once it has been dropped off at your address.
• Make a police report on the stolen item. The theft of a package delivered to your house is a criminal matter and should be handled like the theft of any other property. A police report may be needed to get a replacement item.
• Contact the retailer you bought the item from. The good news is that many retailers, especially large ones, will ship a replacement item when a package is stolen.
My Mom taught me that decades ago in our rural community, so I always use the post office. It’s not worth the risk of having payments stolen. My husband thinks I’m crazy, but we’ve had our mailbox vandalized so he sort of gets it now.
I track packages as well, though I’m pretty sure that no one would steal what I usually order: homeschool curriculum, bulk herbs and essential oils.
I’ve often found my medicines in a bag on top of the mail box. We informed the Post Office not to do that as some of the medications are expensive, but most of them are deadly poison if taken without proper instruction.
Can’t you just see some drug addict tossing down half a bottle of warfarin to see if he will get a high?
I haven’t received mail in a home mail box since I was a kid in 1971.
All my mail goes to the post office. I live in Maine now, and my local post office had me fill out a form which allows me to use their street address for packages from UPS, FedEx, etc.
For instance, say my post office box at the post office is 2502 (it isn’t). My mailing address for UPS or FedEx would be the street address of the post office plus my post office box.....
Joe Blow
199 Main Street # 2502
Podunk, Maine 04999
Or, instead of # 2502, I could use Unit # 2502.
This is only for packages sent by carriers other than the Postal Service....I’m not allowed to use the street address for USPS packages. Also, I’m not allowed to use their street address for letters.
Just before Christmas, thieves were stealing mail from mail boxes in front of homes in six different, neighboring Maine towns. The crooks were looking for gift cards or cash sent through the mail as Christmas gifts.
In this day and age, I would never have my personal mail just sitting out in the street where any drug-addled criminal could steal it.....bank statements, credit card statements, medical information, etc.....I don’t think so.
Article was short on facts. Ret Military on Tricare Life as the secondary to Medicare were DOD MANDATED 4/14 to use Express Scripts or Military base for their daily meds.
Problem with ES is they are known for FRAUD, bad customer service, and shoving your meds UN PHOTO ID SIGNED for into your mail box. For us that is $3K every 3 months.
They come in a plastic bag. As more preps become aware of this procedure more drug thefts will occur. I suspect Medicare will go the same way soon. I worry about the children of all ages in our neighborhood getting into those meds. Thankfully we get the worst ones from the Base. But the Base does not carry everything. When you reorder base takes 5 days, ES takes 2 weeks. All computerized. ES over rides a doctors DAW too.
We have no way to secure the mail box, it’s in one of those brick housing things. Crime is low here as we are semi rural. We have more trouble with wrong address deliveries. ES tells you when to expect a delivery, but our mail runs at uneven times.
Where did you get your monitor from? Idea has a lot of potential.
Don’t forget to have your mail cancelled when you go out of town.
Hubby hears the mail truck, garbage, school bus etc. Me I don’t hear a thing at that sound level. My hearing aids don’t fix low freq sound loss at a distance.
You mean the usurper can’t get a handle on his own “home” town’s crimes?
One would think the guy would have had the meds delivered to his office (just guessing he was at work that day). One would also think UPS would have a rule that meds and anything over a certain dollar amount should have to be signed for. A thug swallowing a bottle of pills is one thing but think of the stink raised if kids did that. Another thing is freezing weather or scorching temperatures could change the chemical makeup so that the pills aren’t effective. Any way you look at it, having meds, especially $5000 ones, dropped at your doorstep is stupid.
UPS can’t be bothered to walk our packages to the front door. They slow down, fling the package out of the truck onto our driveway and continue down the road.
Most package delivery services have a service where they will text you when the package is going to be delivered. Use it.
One of my neighbors stole a package of work shoes for my husband. What they’re going to do with size 13W slip resistant loafers I don’t know. My package of borax was left untouched but I think that was becuase it was too heavy to lift and run with.
We had a PO Box for decades but this last price increase pushed my husband over the edge and I had to drop it. I’ve since discovered that some or one of my neighbors is a thief.
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