A crafty package thief didn’t get away with the goods after an alert homeowner and the Covington police found them thanks to security camera footage.

On Friday, Dec. 6, a Covington resident found packages left by the United States Postal Service (USPS) had been tampered with, according to a press release from the City of Covington. The homeowner had a security camera device on his porch and went inside to check the footage. The homeowner watched an unidentified man walk up to his home, open the packages and remove the contents before carrying them away. That’s when the homeowner called 911.

A Covington Police officer came to the victim’s home to watch the footage, the press release stated. The officer realized the suspect was a man who was just arrested earlier that day for mail theft. The same suspect matched the description of a car prowler who was captured on video in November. The suspect was booked into jail on all three charges.

“We often receive surveillance video footage from residents that appear to show subjects prowling through neighborhoods or trying car door handles,” the city’s press release stated. “The vast majority of this footage does not result in an arrest or charges because the subject is rarely identifiable due to poor image quality, the video only captures activity that is suspicious but not criminal or we are not able to identify what items were stolen or who they were stolen from. In this case video helped piece the incident together to identify the res\peat theft suspect.”

During the holidays, local police see a small rise in package and mail theft. USPS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service recommends the following steps to help protect gifts from thieves.

•Pick up mail quickly, try not to leave mail in the mailbox or packages on your doorstep.

•Deposit mail closer to pick up time. Mail can be deposited in USPS blue collection boxes before the last collection or inside the local post office.

•Inquire about overdue mail. If you do not receive a check, credit card or other valuable mail that is expected, check with the sender or your local USPS as soon as possible.

•Don’t ever send cash in the mail. Arrange for a prompt pickup. I

•If you can’t be home to receive a package, make another arrangement or use the USPS Hold Mail service.

•Use hold for pick up when shipping packages so your recipient can pick up their packages at the local post office.