Stopping porch pirates: Man invents box to protect packages from thieves

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - 'Tis the season for holiday deliveries--and porch pirates.

But one local man thinks he may have a solution to help with an invention that may secure your packages.

These days a lot of people have invested in surveillance cameras. But now, there's the option of a lock box--big enough for your deliveries and harder for thieves to get into.

When a Norwood family got a package delivered, a thief helped himself to it first. David Spatholt was home when his surveillance system caught a man stealing from his porch.

"I looked down at my phone and I saw that there was somebody running up the steps and snatching a package and running off," he said.

Someone found the package in a neighbor's bushes--a delivery for the couple's newborn.

"I think that's kind of the product of when you're having people deliver a bunch of large boxes to the front of your door...there's going to be that opportunity where some people are going to take advantage of it," Spatholt said.

It happens more frequently because more people shop online. Bobby Vires came up with his own solution for the problem: A drop box that's secured to his home.

"The driver puts the packages in here, closes the lid, locks it," he explained. "My wife and I order a lot of packages online, and we had some instances when we had some packages that were missing."

Vires has a sign on the door that tells the delivery person to put packages inside. The box is made from recycled milk jugs by the Amish in Peebles. So far, it's been working for Bobby, so he's selling them.

"We are developing a box that will have a bar code inside that a delivery person can scan, and we can have a verified delivery," Bobby said.

Vires is hoping this holiday season fewer people will have to report porch pirates.

"It's providing a service of protecting our packages from theft, wind, rain. We're employing people locally," he said.

Vires is also working on a refrigerated drop box. That way, if people get groceries delivered, they'll be protected from weather and thieves.