Video: Brazen Thief Swipes Christmas Gifts off Porches

It looks like there's a Grinch is on the loose in South Pasadena.

An unidentified woman was caught on tape -- thanks to resident Christina Valenzuela's surveillance camera -- swiping a package from behind her iron gate in broad daylight. And in Valenzuela's driveway, the La Fremontia Street resident found an empty box addressed to another resident in the 1400 block of Oneonta Knoll. 

"It's very upsetting,'' Valenzuela told KTLA 5, noting her missing package was a salt and pepper shaker set that her sister sent from North Carolina.  

South Pasadena Police Officer Richard Lee said thieves captialize on the holiday season to troll for unattended packages. Some even go so far as to follow delivery trucks, he told the news station. 

Stolen Toys

Another victim of the South Pasadena package thief is resident Becky Lin, who told Patch she and her husband had been doing most of their Christmas shopping online this year, so the items that were stolen were mainly toys for Christmas gifts.

"We had purchases from Amazon.com and Target.com. Amazon immediately resent the package the next day, no questions asked. Target said they would resend the packages soon, and gave us a $100 gift card for our trouble, which was incredible,'' she wrote in an email, noting that the merchants went above and beyond accommodating.

"We were definitely bummed that this happened--more irritated than violated though. I just hope the gifts that were stolen from us go to someone who truly needs them,'' Lin added.

But make no mistake: from here on out, she said, Lin's family is getting all of their packages delivered to work.  

The female suspect is described as 20-years-old, 5-feet tall, thin build, brown hair, dark eyes, wearing a brown jogging suit and white running shoes. If you have any information about these crimes, please call detectives at 626-403-7280.

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