North Knoxville homeowner catches 'porch pirate' on camera

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) - A North Knoxville homeowner is relieved she installed cameras at her front door, but she didn't expect to catch a theft while it was happening. 

Hannah Raines installed the cameras at her house after twice being the victim of package theft. On the third time, she caught the thief on camera, but she wasn't at home at the time. 

"Some of our neighbors have cameras too. These they were pretty expensive, but they do the trick," said Raines. 

The system notifies Raines when there is movement in her yard or on her porch, which happened on Tuesday around 11 a.m. She was expecting packages and watched as they were delivered. 

"It wouldn't matter to me if it was $5 of the stuff. It just matters to me that someone was so entitled to come up right behind the truck and take it," said Raines. 

Within four minutes of the delivery, a "porch pirate" dressed in a yellow sweatshirt and riding a bike was caught scooping the packages up and leaving. 

Raines says she filed a report with the Knoxville Police Department and was told they would patrol the area more. 

She lives across from a fire station. She installed the cameras months ago, and says she doesn't live in an unsafe neighborhood. She hopes this moment is a lesson for others to be aware and possibly send their packages somewhere safe. 

"It will happen any day of the year, anytime. Just like with car break-ins and everything else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere," said Raines. 

Raines says she found the boxes the packages came in near her home in an alley, but everything inside was gone.