Caught on camera: Thief impersonates homeowner to swipe FedEx package

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Police in Huntersville are investigating a brazen theft -- the first of its kind for the department.

Home video shows someone intercepting a FedEx package from a delivery driver, acting as though they were the actual homeowner and recipient.

“This is the first one we’ve seen where someone has intercepted the package and acted as though they were the homeowners,” Huntersville police said in an email to Channel 9.

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The incident happened Thursday afternoon in the Magnolia Walk neighborhood.

Estefania Rauseo said she checked her home surveillance camera when the delivered package wasn’t there like it was supposed to be.

“It was just this lady pulling behind the FedEx truck and then she parked in my house like she lived there,” Rauseo told Channel 9. “She took the package, like pretending it was for her.”

(Below, you can watch the home surveillance video of the incident.)

HOME SURVEILLANCE VIDEO: Brazen thief steals FedEx package in Huntersville neighborhood

In the video, the suspect can be heard exchanging pleasantries with the delivery driver. She wished him a good day and then took off with a new computer and keyboard that was intended for Rauseo’s husband.

“I order things online basically every day, like all of us,” Rauseo said. “This time she got lucky, I guess.”

She posted the video on social media to get the word out and to help neighbors be on alert. With so many packages delivered daily, other neighbors, including Bhumil Patel, are taking the incident seriously, with extra precautions.

“I even set up motion sensors so that if someone drives onto my porch or someone even drives by the road, I get a notification,” Patel said.

Rauseo said she wants to find the person responsible.

“I just want her to be held accountable,” she told Channel 9. “I just don’t want this to happen to more people.”

Rauseo said FedEx is in the process of refunding her since she never received the package, but she’s worried this could happen to someone else.

Huntersville police said the person responsible could face fraud and larceny charges.

FedEx statement:

“The safety and security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority. We encourage any customer who suspects a package may have been stolen to contact the appropriate authorities immediately. We fully cooperate with authorities in any investigations and would direct further inquiry to those investigating authorities.”