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Greenfield Police link package thief caught on camera to other crimes

Posted at 9:50 PM, Dec 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-03 23:26:11-05

A thief caught on camera by a Greenfield homeowner making off with her Christmas presents may be connected to another package theft also caught on camera.

"A citizen called in saying that they had an Amazon package or three of them stolen from the front porch of their residence. This crime was caught on home video surveillance," said Sgt. Robert Austin.

Austin remembered the black Cadillac SUV in the video. He noticed one driving without headlights on Saturday, pulled the driver over and found a stolen package inside.

"There are a lot of those cars out there so it can be a little bit of a needle in a haystack. But in speaking with the occupant and looking in the vehicle I began to suspect the vehicle was involved in the theft," said Austin.

A search of the man's home led to more than 175 stolen items found by Greenfield Police. Officers are now trying to get them to their rightful owners.

"It was everything from housewares and household goods to Christmas decorations, board games to laptops," said Austin.

According to Austin, the thief did not just take from Greenfield.  There were cases all over including one TODAY'S TMJ4 showed you last week where a 13-year-old girl recorded a man stealing her neighbor's package on Milwaukee's south side. 

Police noted in both videos the man is wearing a distinctive item of clothing. It's hard to miss his bright red shoes.

"We really like the home surveillance cameras they really help us in these sorts of cases," said Austin. 

If you were a victim of a package theft, you can contact Greenfield Police at 414-761-5301 to see if your item was recovered.