Bait packages help police nab alleged porch thieves in Sacramento

The Sacramento Police Department has made six bait package arrests in the past weeks after beefing up the program for the holiday season.

The arrests come at a time when thieves take advantage of an uptick in online ordering and home deliveries by swiping packages from front porches when owners are not there, said Linda Matthew, a spokeswoman for the Police Department.

“It’s a crime of opportunity and there’s definitely more of them, especially with the popularity of online ordering,” Matthew said about the package thefts.

The bait packages work when officers leave a decoy bundle equipped with a GPS at the front porch of a residence with the owner’s permission. The GPS devices, similar to the ones used for Sacramento Police Department’s bait bike program, track the thief once a package has been stolen.

In Sacramento, the most recent arrests came on Jan. 1 when officers were alerted of a bait package activation for a decoy that was set up at the 2300 block of Haldis Way in south Sacramento. Officers were led to a restaurant roughly 2 miles away at the 3000 block of Freeport Boulevard, where they found 38-year-old Tara Westford and 48-year-old Ronnie Bartholomew of West Sacramento.

The pair were arrested for conspiring to commit petty theft and possession of stolen property, according to a department press release.

Four additional arrests have been made since Dec. 16, according to Matthew. She said the arrests showed no clear pattern, happening at different times and places.

On Dec. 16, an early morning bait package activation at the 4000 block of 62nd Street in the Tahoe Park neighborhood led to the arrest of Marcus Wandick, 35, a block away.

That night, at around 9:15 p.m., officers were sent to the 1800 block of 25th Street in midtown for a decoy package theft. In that case, officers arrested Michael Lumford, 59, for petty theft and an outstanding warrant.

Police also arrested a pair, Lesa Laatz and Michael Collier, on Dec. 30 at Broadway and 28th streets, just outside midtown. They received an alert at round 1:36 p.m. of a package that had been moved from its location on 26th and R streets.

Matthew said the police department would continue to use the bait packages during the off-season as part of its larger bait program, which includes bait cars, bait bikes and even bait copper to help catch metal thieves.

“Our goal is to be transparent with this,” she said. “We want criminals to think twice if they are going to steal something in Sacramento.”