CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Man with DoorDash bag steals iPhone in Mobile neighborhood

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — What was supposed to be an exciting new delivery quickly went downhill for one Mobile resident.

A homeowner, who wishes to stay anonymous, told News 5 that his new iPhone 16 was supposed to get delivered to his Ashwood Drive East home Thursday afternoon. Instead, it was stolen.

Video shared with News 5 shows that a delivery driver dropped off the package at 2:13 p.m. Nearly 15 minutes later, a man with a DoorDash bag comes in and appears to take the package.

Blake Brown with the Mobile Police Department says that this is the first time he has seen a food delivery driver steal someone’s package.

“It’s my first time seeing anything like this,” he said. “Of course, it is unusual, but I think now that shows you that some thieves are getting creative, and when they see something, they’re going to go after it.”

The homeowner told WKRG News 5 that he was at work when he got the notification that his package was delivered, and with excitement, he told his wife who was at home to pick it up, but at that time it was too late.

Brown said around this time, the department sees an increase in porch pirate crimes.

“This is just the beginning–I mean, you’ve already seen the Halloween decorations,” he said. “Again, something small, but folks going on the porches and stealing things like that, this will continue all the way through the holiday season and even on into Mardi Gras. I’m told by some of the investigators. And they expect this kind of crime to occur.”

But what are some ways to help keep residents safe from porch pirates?

“The best thing you can do is obviously to leave lights on outside your home, especially on your front porch,” Brown explained. “If you do have access to a camera, a ring camera, anything like that, that’s always going to help our investigation. It’s going to help us locate that person a lot quicker and close that investigation and hopefully get your get your item back.”

WKRG reached out to DoorDash, and a spokesperson said that they are working to identify the person in the video to see whether or not they work for DoorDash.

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