Ashland Police arrested two suspects who were caught on camera stealing packages from porches on Wednesday.
According to Ashland Police, on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024, around 11:17am, Police Chief Ger Daley and Officer Tyler Dissinger were dispatched to a package theft on Walnut Street.
The victim told police that a package was delivered by FedEx, and shortly after it arrived, 2 males pulled up in a black vehicle, jumped out, and took the package from the porch.
A few minutes later, the same thing happened on North 9th Street, except this time, the package was delivered by the United States Postal Service.
Both incidents were captured on home security cameras showing the suspects and their vehicle.
With help from police from Butler Township and Frackville, the suspects were located and taken into custody.
Ricardo Velze Duarte, 46, of Worcester, MA and Alex Tavarez Fernandez, 23 of Hazleton were both charged by Ashland Police with theft and receiving stolen property.
After being taken into custody, they were arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Edward Tarantelli on the above charges and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $50,000 straight cash bail.
Chief Daley is telling residents to be aware and more vigilant when they know they have packages being delivered to their homes. He says there appears to be a trend starting in our area where suspects are targeting delivery vehicles.
The suspects follow delivery vehicles, and once packages are delivered, they take the package from the porch almost immediately. Chief Daley says, "I understand that it is hard to be home all the time to receive your packages, but if you can somehow find a way to have them secured after delivery, it will help deter this type of crime."
Anyone who has experienced an incident like this should contact their local police department.