‘Exploding’ box aims to scare away thieves

The more time and money Jaireme Barrow spent to keep people from swiping packages off his front porch, the angrier he got.

He’d show police in Tacoma, Wash., crystal-clear surveillance video of porch pirates strolling onto his front yard and then making off with what he could only assume were the Jeep parts and electronics he’d paid for. But there were never any arrests.

As he grew more incensed, he realized he wanted more than identities or charges or even the stuff in the boxes. He wanted revenge. Then, the 34-year-old had an explosive idea.

“I was thinking, how could I scare them and make them drop my package and then never come to my front porch again,” Barrow told The Washington Post. “And I thought,

‘Getting shot at is scary. That’ll make them think twice.’ ”

With that, TheBlankBox was born.

Although Barrow has been tinkering with his device for nearly a year, interest has peaked this month, as Americans increasingly turn to the internet to buy presents for the people they love but face the added worry that their gifts somehow won’t make it.

Americans are shopping online as often as they take out the trash. According to the National Retail Federation, about 58 million Americans shopped only online from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday, while 51 million shopped only in stores. An additional 64 million did both.

And more than 750 retailers participated in Free Shipping Day earlier this month, which one CBS affiliate said was meant to give consumers “peace of mind knowing their order is guaranteed to be delivered by Christmas Eve.”

Unless, of course, those dreaded “porch pirates” interfere.

Barrow’s concept for alleviating that anxiety is both simple and devious.

The nondescript dummy box is placed in plain sight. When an unsuspecting thief lifts it, a 12-gauge shotgun blank goes off.

A video surveillance system like Barrow’s — installed to shame thieves and capture their startled reactions for YouTube — is not included.

It’s very loud but technically harmless, Barrow said.

But a police spokeswoman in Tacoma, where Barrow lives, said the device as described to her by a reporter appears to be illegal. There are, however, no open cases against Barrow.

Barrow is trying to patent TheBlankBox and has built a website, cashing in his savings and going “all in.”

The cheapest version costs $60.

Barrow says he’s shipping them as fast as he can make them, capitalizing on an untapped market as more and more people are becoming reliant on having boxes delivered to their door.

Although gun blanks can hurt people, Barrow insists his contraption is “completely safe” — as long as the blanks are inside the box.