Theft, and NextDoor.com

The man was only in our backyard for a few seconds.  Our property backs onto an alley, and he came in through the alley.  He walked straight for the aluminum ladder belonging to our handyman, grabbed it, and left.  We have it on video.

My wife posted pictures on NextDoor.com.  Not long after, my wife's post had a response.  Someone else had checked his security video.  He had film of the gentleman from our back yard folding up the ladder and putting it in his van.  There was also video of the gentleman obtaining another package and placing and placing it in the vehicle.  The moment he obtained the package is just out of view of the camera, but it seems obvious from which back yard it originated.  What is in the package, and its value, I do not know.  Finally, the video we were sent also includes the license plate of the gentleman's vehicle.  Unless the gentleman also stole the vehicle, that should be enough information for the police to to identify him. 

Our handyman plans to press charges.  If trespassing is something the authorities take seriously, we will do the same.  And of course, there is one more victim:  the unidentified package mentioned above belonged to someone who may not know yet that it is missing.

I am extremely curious about how all this will turn out.  But I also find the role of social media in this chain of events interesting.  We would never have gotten the video with identifying information were it not for NextDoor.com.  A year ago, I would not have imagined this happening.

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