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Thief Caught On Camera Stealing Christmas Packages

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A White Bear Lake man hopes his home security camera footage will lead to the arrest of the man who stole from him.

John Felton says he was sitting at work on Thursday and got an alert on his tablet that there was motion activity detected outside his house.

He was able to watch video from his security camera and saw a man walking away from his home with Felton's Christmas gifts.

In the video, the man is not wearing a mask and drives a dark SUV.

"The injustice of it is so blatant," Felton said.

His coworkers shared the video on social media in hopes someone would identify the man.

"It went from 20,000 views all the way to more than 100,000," Felton said.

He says the gifts were tools, valued at $150, that his wife bought him for Christmas. But he says it's not about the gifts.

"It hits a nerve with people," Felton said. "To the person who did this I ask if this is really the type of person they want to be."

The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office says stealing a mailed package from someone's door step is considered felony mail tampering.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office.

Even if there is no arrest, Felton says he hopes the video will scare the thief from striking again, and remind others to be careful.

Police suggests people ask for packages to be delivered to a back door, or have a trusted neighbor look for a package when it is scheduled to arrive.

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