Porch pirate steals packages from Bastrop homes, officials say

Bastrop porch pirate caught on camera

A man was caught on a doorbell camera taking packages off a front porch on Mills Crossing Drive in Bastrop. (Credit: Bastrop County Sheriff's Office)

BASTROP, Texas - A man is in jail after he was caught on security cameras allegedly stealing packages from Bastrop-area front porches, says the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office.

According to BCSO, Octavio Garza is suspected of stealing packages from two homes in Bastrop over the span of a week. He is currently in the Bastrop County Jail on a $25,000 bond.

The first reported incident happened on Dec. 8 in the 100 block of Mills Crossing Drive. The suspect was caught on the home's Nest camera getting out of a light-colored truck, approaching the home and taking two boxes off the front porch.

The second incident was reported on Dec. 13 in the 100 block of Patrick Herndon Drive, less than five miles away. The victim told a patrol deputy he had had two packages taken off his front porch and had Ring video of the theft.

In the Ring video, a man is seen taking packages off the front porch and driving a silver GMC pickup truck with an orange toolbox, says BCSO.

Later, the same deputy responded to the 1100 block of FM 969, just five miles from the second home, and met with a witness who helped identify the truck and suspect.

The suspect was detained and questioned, and BCSO says he admitted to the deputy he was the one in the video taking the packages. The man was not arrested at the time "due to the statutory restrictions in arrests for misdemeanor violations," according to BCSO.

The next day, a BCSO investigator reviewed the case and established there was probable cause for an arrest warrant for mail theft, a Class A misdemeanor.

The investigator had also been involved in the investigation into the Mills Crossing theft, and observed videos posted to Facebook and NextDoor that showed the same vehicle and same suspect taking packages, says BCSO.