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Northridge Woman Credited For Helping Catch Suspected Serial Package Thief

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — A Northridge woman is being credited for helping catch a suspected serial package thief.

Tadji Akhavan Smith had her packages, which contained stuff from her Christian Bible camp, stolen from her porch.

Once Smith saw her security video that captured the accused burglar, she went right to social media and posted the video on multiple sites.

Within hours, she found victims of the same guy and even people who knew him, according to Smith.

"Everything you could ever hope for. And this was in within 10 hours of just hitting the ground and doing the detective work," Smith told CBS2's Andrea Fujii.

Smith contacted detectives and gave them all the information she had gathered about the accused thief.

"I sent him all of these corroborating videos and photos, and his ID and all this stuff. He was just as excited as I was," Smith explained.

Monday night, detectives put out a sting and arrested 30-year-old David Dale of Reseda.

Dale may be responsible for at least 20 package thefts in the San Fernando Valley, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police said they found many stolen items in Dale's car. Detectives credit Smith's sleuthing with helping them catch him.

Although she did not get much of her stuff back, she said she was thankful her hours of hard work paid off.

"I was able to help myself but also help all these other people that he had victimized as well." she added.

If you are a victim, call the LAPD.

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