Aurora Starchild
Christmas thieves had a change of heart after they were caught stealing their neighbors’ presents. A group of 19-year-old women were arrested and subsequently scolded by their parents for their greed. The porch pirates returned to the home to apologize and give the presents back.
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Houston homeowner Bryant Clark told Fox News that he was “shocked” to see the items returned.
“Honestly, it was shocking,” said Clark. “You don’t expect somebody to steal something from you and bring it back.”
The four women appeared on Clark’s porch just minutes after a delivery driver dropped several packages off. Incidentally, a doorbell camera caught the theft in action, and they were arrested by the police. After the women’s parents told them to make it right, the women accordingly brought everything back and apologized in person.
It certainly seems the double-whammy of getting arrested and a stern parental talking-to was enough to cause a change of heart.
Clark said that the items in the packages were all gifts for his nieces and nephew. He was intending to put them under his Christmas tree.
The Clark Family Forgave the Christmas Thieves, But Other Victims May Not Be So Kind
“The fact that they were able to say. ‘Okay we’re going to step out — even in fear and do the right thing,’ is big,” Clark said of the thieves. “The level of courage in that, I have to respect. I’ve been a young man before. I’ve made foolish decisions. I think we all have. I believe grace is something given when not deserved, and we have to give it.”
Bryant Clark and his wife spoke with the girls for some time. He said that he was proud of the young women for coming forward and trying to right their wrongs. Clark also added that everyone needs some grace at times. He said that forgiveness can effect change.
“Change is possible,” said the homeowner. “Despite where you start, it’s how you finish, and everyone deserves a little bit of grace. God gave it to us. We have to give it to others.”
Apart from the fact that stealing other people’s packages and gifts is mean and Grinchy, it’s also very illegal. Porch piracy generally ramps up around the holiday season, too, because it’s assumed that everyone’s buying gifts through the mail.
Some people have had enough of the porch pirates, however, and aren’t as forgiving as the Clark family. YouTuber Mark Rober set up fart bomb and glitter bomb booby traps because he was tired of being stolen from. And the Saleep family in Florida filled a package with their baby’s soiled poop diapers and left it baking in the sun to trick their local thieves.
Christmas thieves be warned. Santa’s watching. And so is everyone else.
Silke Jasso and Rob Fox contributed to this article.
