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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: A postal worker pushes packages through the snow on January 3, 2022 in Washington, DC. The DC area is expected to get 3-10 inches of snow with many schools declaring a snow day and federal offices are closed.
Hundreds of people failed to receive their presents last Christmas. Thanks to the Grinch that ruined their Holiday vibes by hijacking their packages.
The Holiday Season has ended, but Oklahoma authorities continue their search for the person responsible for the ransack of 600 Amazon packages bound to the United States Postal Service, as per Oklahoma News 4.
On New Year's Eve, the authorities had received a call from a tipster who reported an illegal dumping activity in the woods. When the deputies arrived at the area, they found hundreds of undelivered Amazon packages. Lots of them were in envelopes.
Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office Spokesperson Aaron Brilbeck condemned the incident and even described it as "Porch piracy on steroids."
According to a Facebook post of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office, the dumped packages were found within the vicinity of the 206th and Harrah Rd. on New Year's Eve.
"Someone had removed the items they wanted and discarded the rest (Apparently the thief isn't much of a reader...the books that were being delivered were left behind). All of the packages were supposed to arrive at their destinations by Christmas. The tracking information shows the packages left the Amazon facility to go to the USPS for delivery, but never arrived," the post reads.
Brilbeck said that most of the packages have been opened but there were some that were not. "The ones that weren't open all contain books, and it appears the person is not very well-read," he said.
Though porch pirates are common during the holidays, the authorities believe that it is a different case. Porch piracy usually involves thieves snatching deliveries from the doorsteps of the victims.
"This seems more of a case of somebody stealing large amounts at the same time," Brilbeck said.
Among the victims of the incident is Mary Snodgrass, who was expecting a package from Amazon days before Christmas. However, it never reached her.
Though she expected some delay on the delivery due to the season, Snodgrass noted that tracking updates just stopped.
"It was just like the package disappeared off the face of the Earth," she said.
According to Fox News, authorities consider the delivery driver as a suspect in the case. However, he declined to identify other persons of interest.
The theft of mail items is considered a federal crime; but since the packages failed to reach the Postal Service, suspects will be charged by the state, KoCo News 5 reported.
"As of right now, we're looking at it as potential larceny, potential theft. How large of theft we just don't know because we don't know what was inside of all those packages," Brilbeck said.
At this time, no arrests have been made by the authorities, but they are already working with the US Postal Service and e-commerce giant Amazon.
The Sheriff's Office also advised people with missing packages not to contact them. They plan to reach out to the victims.
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