For some, giving Tuesday can turn into taking Tuesday.
Agnes Foligno and her husband Jeff were victims of a package thief in New Britain last week, and it was all caught on their surveillance cameras.
"I think the package came at noon and like an hour later, a person came up to the porch and stole the package," Foligno said.
"We work very hard for all the things that we have so it's very hurtful that somebody would just come up and feel that they can take whatever they want from you without working for it," she added.
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These types of thefts can happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone, especially around the holidays.
That's why for the past five years, Sandy Marino, the owner of Sandy's Unlimited Inc. in Wolcott has been offering a special service.
If you have a package coming and you're in the area, he allows you to ship your items to his business, free of charge.
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"Criminals are bold and they stare right into those Zoom cameras or those Ring cameras and sometimes you see a Hollywood smile off of those and they don't pay attention to those as much and they'd rather have the package and move on," Marino said.
"In a small community doing work that most large box stores are doing, there's very few of us left to do it, the trust factor increases exponentially," he added.
For years, police departments and towns have issued warnings about these holiday thieves.
Most recently, the town of Seymour posted the following tips to their social media:
- Require a signature for all deliveries
- Use a delivery locker provided by places like Amazon or another retailer
- Install security cameras
- Have packages delivered to your workplace
- Schedule your delivery at a time you're home
Agnes doubled down with the same advice, warning others to beware.
"Send everything to a locker, they have lockers everywhere, this particular company did not, that's why it came to the house and we happened not to be home but from now on, that's absolutely what I will do," she said.
The Better Business Bureau also says to check with a neighbor to make sure your packages are actually stolen and not just delivered elsewhere, and if you can't ship the items to your workplace or home, send them to the retailer if they have a physical location near you.
