Watch CBS News

Caught On Camera: Glendale Woman Shames Would-Be Porch Pirate Into Returning Package

GLENDALE (CBSLA) — An alert Glendale mother pounced when she saw a would-be porch pirate trying to steal a package from her neighbor's home, and the entire confrontation was caught on on camera.

Would-Be Porch Pirate
(Credit: Brandon Family)

Shannon Brandon said she was eating breakfast with her son in the front of their house when they saw a car pull up.

"We just thought they were going to visit the neighbors, but then they got out and went to opposite homes," she said.

But it was Brandon's son, Derek Brandon, who saw one of the men pick up the package.

"I told her, 'I saw that guy just reach down and take the package,'" he said. "'Mom! That guy is stealing the package!'"

And that's when Brandon jumped into action and her son pulled out his phone and started recording.

"I started filming, and she ran out, and I started hearing her scream, and I'm like, 'What's going on,'" Brandon said.

In the video, Brandon can be heard yelling at a would-be thief as he walks away from her neighbor's home with a package under his arm.

"Stop! Go put that back," she said. "Right now. Put it back!"

With his tail between his legs, the would-be thief did as he was told and put the package back where he found it.

After the package was returned, the would-be thieves got in their car and left.

"She did a really good job," James Farr-Jones, the man whose package was saved, said. "It's a really funny end to it, because she got the guy to put the package back and not just run off."

Brandon said she did it because "people work hard, and that might have been a Christmas present for their kids. It's not right."

In the package were not presents, but a couple of pillows.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.