SAN ANTONIO – Kelly Maisel says she was busy with the holiday season’s hustle and bustle when she forgot to bring in her delivery from the front door. Her door security camera barely captured a masked suspect swiftly taking off.
“It was 4:30 in the morning. We had a package stolen off our porch. It was our dog’s prescription food from Chewy’s,” she said.
It was surprising because she lives in a gated community and hasn’t heard her neighbors talk about being victims of porch pirate thieves.
Maisel didn’t file a police report because she didn’t think it would make a difference, since the video was so fast that it was hard to tell who was responsible.
The San Antonio Police Department doesn’t specifically track porch thefts. But we looked at home thefts from September to December in 2024 and 2025. We found that home thefts tripled during that time frame this year.
SAPD said making a report, no matter how minor the theft amount, helps detectives build a paper trail and a case against a suspect in the area.
Police also say neighbors can request that officers drive by and be more visible in their neighborhood.
SAPD said making a report might not lead to an immediate arrest, but could result in one in the future.