Empty Amazon boxes found in San Jose, many addressed to Menlo Park
SAN JOSE, Calif. - On Sunday, residents found dozens of open empty Amazon boxes dumped near the Penitencia Creek trail in East San Jose. Neighbors said most of the boxes were addressed to residents 20 miles away in Menlo Park.
San Jose Police said they received calls about the empty Amazon boxes on Sunday. Police said it’s unknown how the boxes got there. Police have not identified a suspect.
“The labels looked different,” said neighbor Vince. “They just took the stuff out of it and just dumped the boxes. I called the police department. The porch pirates had a field day and they just ransacked everything.”
“I feel like they are stealing the packages and come out farther just to dump the boxes,” said Francis Cunanan of San Jose.
On Tuesday, the boxes were removed. Remnants of packaging labels and merchandise information remain.
Menlo Park police said there have been no recent reports of thefts of Amazon deliveries within the city. Menlo Park Police also said it will continue to work with the San Jose Police Department to determine where a crime may have occurred and assist in identifying any potential victims of theft.
“The numbers that they came up with is that over 50 percent of the people who shop online, they will lose at least one of their packages every six months,” said SJSU Cybersecurity Expert Ahmed Banafa.
Banafa said what’s shocking is thieves are not only going to houses now but where packages can be found in bulk including trucks and delivery locations. He said Cyber Monday netted $9 billion in sales nationwide.
“This is just killing the joy of so many people when they don't receive their packages especially in the holiday season,” said Banafa.
“Having packages stolen during the holiday season, it's a quality of life issue,” said Capt. Ava Fanucchi of Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
One police department is cracking down on package thieves. Sunnyvale Police is now placing decoy packages throughout the city to curb package thefts.
KTVU reached out to Amazon and did not hear back. This isn’t the first time this happened. Back in August, roughly 50 empty Amazon boxes were found discarded along the Guadalupe River in San Jose and it's still unknown how those boxes got there.