Police have caught and arrested a real-life Grinch suspected of preying on people ordering Christmas gifts.
Residents of Nassau County, Long Island, had been getting nasty surprises when they opened packages delivered to their porches.
Instead of the gifts for loved ones, the boxes contained old shoes, clothes, and trash—courtesy of a local “Grinch,” who was swapping these useless packages for the original ones.
Local police call such thieves “porch pirates.”
Malverne Police announced on Dec. 7 the arrest of Peter Lee Dunbar of Jamaica Queens for the theft of the packages from “numerous” Nassau communities.
A week earlier the police department had warned residents to be careful after a spate of thefts in the area.
"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!" @MalvernePD captured Peter Dunbar of Queens who is accused of stealing packages and replacing them with boxes full of trash. Good news- @MalvernePD was able to return some of those stolen packages. @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/TKN0f7xQd8
— Candace McCowan (@CandaceMcCowan7) December 7, 2017
“The subject carries a package with him to the front door that is filled with old clothes, shoes or other trash and leaves that package there while removing the homeowners delivery,” wrote the Malverne Police in a statement.
“We had some last year but not to this level,” said Malverne Police Chief John Aresta, according to Newsday.
The police provided a description of the suspect, eventually catching up with him when he was arrested and stopped for operating a vehicle without a front license plate and was unable to produce a valid NYS drivers license.
“Subsequent investigation by Malverne police officers led to the discovery of property that had been previously reported stolen in the van,” said the police in a statement.
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Missing a package in Nassau County? Police might have found it! @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/NeoI8oi9VH
— Candace McCowan (@CandaceMcCowan7) December 7, 2017
Dunbar has been connected to other larcenies in the surrounding communities, said the police.
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