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Thief Stealing Holiday Presents From Front Porches In Ellicott City

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ)-- Stealing Christmas right off your front porch! Police say a holiday thief may be targeting your presents.

Meghan McCorkell has more on how police plan to stop her holiday heist.

That woman was seen following a delivery truck and stealing packages right from the front of homes. But now, she's hit the wrong house.

Police say this woman is a holiday Grinch, pinching Christmas packages right off people's front porch. She struck at a home here along Weston Drive in Ellicott City.

What she didn't know, this house is armed with one, two, three, four security cameras that caught her holiday heist.

The security cameras show the delivery truck dropping off a package. Just over an hour later, a blue sedan pulls up, a woman gets out of the passenger's side, steals the package from the front porch, throwing it in the trunk of the car and driving away.

"I don't know what to think," neighbor Satya Chalasani said. "I've never heard of any crime activities in this area."

Neighbors are now keeping a close eye on what's delivered to their homes.

"I told the kids to look out for packages and make sure that they grabbed them as soon as they saw them so that none of our stuff was taken," Sally Seen, another neighbor, said.

Police now warning neighbors to be on the lookout for suspicious people or cars in their community.

They also want to know if any of your packages were stolen.

"Make an effort to look around their residence," Sherry Llewellyn, spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department said. "Police look at back doors and side doors and make sure that the package isn't really there. Then check with the company that's delivering it and if it's not been received but was delivered, they should call the police."

Police believe this woman may have hit more homes. Now, they want to stop her from stealing the holidays from more people.

Police have also put out the warning to delivery truck drivers to be aware if anyone seems to following your truck.

Anyone who recognizes that female suspect is asked to call Howard County Police.

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