EL CAJON, Calif. - Surveillance video shows how a thief strategically executed a package theft in an El Cajon neighborhood.
"[I] just feel violated that someone would come up on our property," said resident Mitchell Van Dyk.
On Sunday, Van Dyk received a text message from Amazon that two packages had been delivered to his home. He expected to see those packages when he got home.
"My girlfriend and I came back from our walk and noticed that nothing was here," said Van Dyk.
They quickly checked their surveillance video and saw it all.
The video shows a car park in front of the home on Pine Drive, and then a woman gets out of the passenger side, walks through the gate and grabs the two packages.
Inside the packages were grass seed and a dog toy.
"I don't know who she is but pretty sneaky parking right in front of the house, then stealing our packages so quickly," said Van Dyk.
Sneaky could also be used to describe the thief's tactics.
In the surveillance video, as the Amazon delivery van is about to leave, a car slowly drives by.
Six minutes later, it appears the same car drives by, before pulling over in front of the house. The thief then gets out.
"Maybe followed the truck or luck of the draw, she was at the house," said Van Dyk.
The theft played out amid mounting concerns in the neighborhood.
Mailboxes were opened and cleaned out last week. On the website Nextdoor.com, there have been reports of other recent package thefts nearby.
If you have any information on the case, call El Cajon police.
