Queens, NY, homeowner Carlos Mejia has grown frustrated with package thieves in his neighborhood. Much like many other areas of the country, Queens has been inundated by groups of people who have nothing better to do than steal everything not nailed down. With companies like Amazon leaving things unattended on doorsteps for hours at a time, these thieves don’t need to look hard or long for an opportunity.
In response to the crimes, Mejia placed a package on the doorstep of his home and set the camera to record. As he posted on TikTok, it didn’t take long for him to have his first visitor. Wearing a green hoodie and grey backpack, the man slips onto the porch and stuffs the box into his bag.
Suddenly, the door bursts open, and out comes Mejia with a baseball bat, ready to confront the would-be thief. Quickly pressing the man into a fence, he pleads with Mejia that he was simply securing the package and didn’t want someone to rob him. Demanding to know what else was in the bag, Mejia holds the man at batpoint and orders him to his knees.
In a follow-up video from another angle, the man can be seen outside a fence as he’s crying for an ambulance as police arrest him and asking almost sweetly what he was under arrest for.
Later identified as 36-year-old Victor Stazzone, the attempted thief didn’t look much worse for wear. Booked on charges of petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal trespassing, it’s unfortunate that this criminal likely won’t learn much if anything from the crime. A savage injustice for sure.
