I-Team: ‘No doubt this is organized crime;' Delivery drivers targeted in nationwide trend

Yahoo

18-02-2025

The News Center 7 I-Team has been digging into a nationwide trend of thieves targeting delivery drivers. In some cases, criminals are ambushing workers as they're dropping off a package.
The I-Team's lead investigative reporter, John Bedell, has been looking into what the thieves are after, how they know when and where the packages are being delivered, and what you can do to protect your money and products.
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It's happening all over the country and in the Miami Valley -- thieves targeting FedEx delivery drivers for packages with Apple products inside. The I-Team talked to law enforcement about several local cases.
'There was a gun involved (in our case),' Germantown Police Department Capt. Nathan Wale said. 'The gun was never pointed at (the delivery driver), but it was in the suspect's waistband.'
On Monday morning, Germantown Police confirmed the accused robber from their case on the front porch of a home along North Main Street on January 14 was arrested in the Columbus area for the same crime.
He's now facing charges in Delaware County in connection with both robberies.
Germantown Police confirmed they are still looking for the getaway driver in their case.
Video doorbell footage the I-Team got a hold of shows a man approaching the delivery driver while he was on the porch in Germantown with a package in hand. The video then shows the man shoving the delivery driver up against the front door while yelling, 'My package!' The delivery driver getting pushed obscures the camera's view for a moment. When you can see what's going on again, you can see the man who police say robbed him is now running off the porch with the package in hand and he gets into a waiting car.
Home surveillance video from a next-door neighbor's home shows the man and another person in a silver Honda Civic getting away with the package that had three new iPhones inside.
'They had to know that this (delivery) was coming,' Capt. Wale told the I-Team. 'The vehicle was parked about two blocks down and just waited for the driver to come …. We're speculating (they arrived) between 15 and 20 minutes, possibly longer, before the driver.'
In November, the I-Team first covered a similar robbery in Washington Township in south Montgomery County.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office was using undercover deputies to keep an eye on a FedEx driver on Halloween. It was part of a sting on Ashel Court when a guy swiped a package with an iPad Pro valued at $1,500 inside.
Deputies jumped in to stop the crime and arrested two men just moments later. That case in Washington Township came with a recent conviction and an acquittal for the two co-defendants.
The I-Team was at Miguel Bodre's sentencing in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court last month. A judge sentenced him to probation for five years after he pleaded guilty to a robbery charge. Bodre is from New York City.
That's also where deputies say Luis Emilio Paula-Jimenez was living. Paula-Jimenez was also charged in connection with the robbery in Washington Township on Halloween. But a jury acquitted him at his trial last month.
However, the day after his acquittal, on January 29, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office confirmed to the I-Team it transferred Paula-Jimenez from its custody into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on an ICE detainer.
Deputies had previously told the I-Team that Paula-Jimenez was in the U.S. illegally.
The I-Team reached out to ICE for further details but as of this report has not gotten a response.
In addition to the Germantown and Washington Township cases, the Moraine Police Department and the Miami County Sheriff's Office told the I-Team they each have an open investigation into someone stealing a FedEx package with Apple products inside from unoccupied front porches not long after the packages were delivered.
The Miami County case happened at a home in Newberry Township near Covington in early December. Miami County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Steve Lord told the I-Team the criminal even hired a rideshare driver 'to unwittingly remove the package (with an iPad inside) and take it to another shipping business … to ship it to a location out of state.'
'There's no doubt this is organized crime behind it,' Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Major Jeremy Roy said of the broader national trend of these package robberies and thefts.
Roy told the I-Team it's all about profit for organized criminals. 'If you go to any cell phone store right now or any box store and go to try and buy one of the new Apple (iPhone) 16s they're $1,200,' Roy said. 'But if you turn around and can sell it on the street for 500 bucks, a brand new one, that's quick cash.'
The I-Team also wanted to know how this is happening – how these criminals know where and when the packages are being delivered and what's inside them.
Bedell asked Major Roy, 'Is there a security breach somewhere where these criminals are getting this information?'
'I think it goes without saying that somehow somewhere there's a leak,' Roy said. 'Somewhere in the process of the customer physically ordering the Apple product … and it getting shipped through FedEx and getting a tracking number and being sent to these folks' home. And again, this is organized. Someone's getting ahold of these tracking numbers knowing they're coming … and where they're being delivered to.'
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office says they've been getting help from other local departments and federal investigators with the FBI and HSI on cases like this.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Cincinnati field office told the I-Team, 'Officially, as a matter of policy, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of a potential investigation.'
And an HSI Spokesperson told the I-Team, 'Due to an ongoing investigation, HSI is unable to comment at this time.'
The News Center 7 I-Team reached out to Apple several times, but, as of this report, the company has not responded with a comment.
To protect your money and products, the Montgomery County Sheriff's office says one thing you can do is to adjust your deliveries, and instead have it sent to a hub where you can pick up the package in person.
FedEx also offered some ways you can protect your deliveries with the company in the statement they sent to the I-Team in response to our request for comment:
At FedEx, safety is central to everything we do. With bad actors growing increasingly sophisticated, the shipping industry has been proactively working with customers and law enforcement to address the rise of porch piracy. We constantly adapt our processes and use innovative technologies to protect drivers and packages. This includes continually monitoring the integrity and confidentiality of customer information.
We also have rigorous safety and security programs in place and regularly remind our team members of the importance of both personal and package safety. This includes remaining vigilant when delivering a package and immediately reporting any unusual activity.
Our goal is to ensure a secure and reliable experience for everyone, and we encourage any customer who believes a shipment has been stolen to immediately contact local law enforcement.
For consumers:
FedEx encourages recipients to sign up for FedEx Delivery Manager (FDM) to have more control over the timing and location of deliveries.
With FDM, you can create vacation holds and redirect for a pickup at FedEx Office or hold location, so a package is not left unattended at a business or residence
These tools have proven very helpful in combating porch piracy.
Heather Wilson, FedEx Media Relations
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