Benson family shaken up after watching thieves steal Christmas presents on camera as it happened
With Christmas now just one day away, holiday-related crime is hitting its peak.
In 2023, thieves are seemingly more brazen than ever and not concerned at all about being caught on camera.
WRAL News spoke with two families whose Christmas presents were taken from their homes.
One Benson couple had their gifts stolen after they were already wrapped.
"I never thought I’d watch my house get robbed," said Tyler Messer.
The couple was at work when their security system notified them someone was in their home. They watched in real-time as thieves walked out with all of their Christmas presents.
"Someone kicks in your front door and takes everything," said Ally Andrews.
The base of their Christmas tree was left empty and the presents for their 3-year-old girl were gone.
"You know there’s a little child living here, and you’re willingly taking these presents, aren’t you thinking you should maybe not do this?" said Andrews.
Stealing from children has been an unfortunate trend this week as Sydney Hayes found out.
Hayes lives at the coast, but is spending the holidays in Fayetteville. She couldn’t find her delivered packages. Until she checked camera footage and saw two people wearing masks.
"I had a gut feeling about what was about to happen in the video," Hayes said.
In a flash, they scramble to grab the packages that were gifts for Hayes’ first and only child: A 6-month-old baby.
"Never thought I’d get to have a baby so I wanted to make this Christmas magical, and not have over half of his gifts just kills me," said Hayes.
They were targets of Grinches, but also of compassion. Friends stepped up with gifts to make sure no smile would be stolen on Christmas day.
"She’s gonna have a good Christmas," Messer said. "And the Grinch didn’t ruin it."
The Better Business Bureau has tips on how to avoid porch pirates:
- Don’t leave unattended packages. Instead, schedule the delivery for a time you’ll be home.
- Ship a package to a retail store.
- Use a highly visible security camera
