Milwaukee man gets revenge on package thief with prank

A Bay View package thief was met with an unwelcome surprise earlier this month.

Austin Robb has had two boxes stolen off his porch in the last few weeks, so he decided to get back at the porch pirates.

He put out a box stuffed with "treats" as bait.

"I'm going to leave a fake package with some garbage and I have dogs, so I threw some of the dog's poop in there and it only took about six hours," Robb said. "It was stolen that day."

Robb's Ring doorbell camera caught the theft, which he installed after the previous thefts.

The lighthearted prank was born out of a problem in the neighborhood that goes beyond Robb's porch.

Pat Reinholz, a neighbor of Robb's, said his garage was broken into a few weeks ago, and before that, his bicycle was stolen.

Robb jokingly says the social media reaction to his trick could lead to a movement of people baiting thieves with fake packages, but his focus is elsewhere this holiday season.

"You hear the stories of like, 'I ordered $300 worth of presents,'" he said. "I'm lucky. It was a couple $20 things off Amazon."

Robb says his fake package lasted merely six hours on the porch before it was taken.