AVON, Ind. — It wasn’t what Ronnie and Amy Coursey were expecting to see when they pulled into their driveway Sunday afternoon.
“We saw a truck in the driveway and no one should be here. We were with the kids. Everyone was together,” Amy Coursey said.
Just moments before, the woman who owned the truck was seen in surveillance video knocking on their door and stealing a package off their front porch.
That’s when the Avon couple sprang into action.
“She had a box in her hand, and I screamed at him you know, ‘Block her in! Block her in! She’s stealing,’” Amy said.
Ronnie then got out to confront her and the woman told him she was there to see someone named “Andrea.”
“I said, ‘You know this isn’t Andrea’s house and you may want to give me that package back’ and she did,” Ronnie said.
As soon as the woman saw the couple called 911, the suspected porch pirate tried to escape. Since her pick-up truck was blocked in the driveway, she decided to drive right over the front lawn.
“I screamed to my husband, ‘Get in, let’s chase her.’ Then it was like the race is on,” Amy said.
The couple followed the black pick-up truck out of the subdivision and gave police a license plate number, vehicle description and a photo of the suspect.
Not long after, police arrested 41-year-old Brownsburg resident Melissa Solomon and charged her with theft and criminal mischief.
“I think there are a lot of people out there that had their package stolen by her because she knew what she was doing. She had her head covered,” Amy said.
The homeowners now have a special message for other porch pirates with a sign on their front door reading, “This is the last person who took the package from my porch…two hours later. Think twice.”
“It is Christmas time. You just don’t want someone else to suffer or fall victim to a thief. Nobody likes a thief. At the same time, you hope she gets the help she needs and finds a better path,” Ronnie said.
Avon police detectives are investigating whether Solomon is involved in other package thefts. If you think you may have been a victim, they ask that you contact them right away.