ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — What started as a package delivery, police say turned into a crime yesterday at the Westwood Country Club in Rocky River.
A woman, who dropped off an Amazon order, returned to deliver a couple of car thieves, according to police.
“It’s one drive in, one drive out,” said Rocky River Detective Mike Asbury.
Asbury says a delivery driver made the trip twice Thursday morning to the country club and the second time wasn’t for work.
“I would say it’s very unusual,” said Asbury.
Asbury says the woman, who was not employed by Amazon, made a delivery for a subcontractor hired by the company.
According to police, that delivery driver returned about two hours later and two males were seen exiting that vehicle and entering the victim’s vehicle.
Asbury said the two men did not have to break in to steal the Audi and the theft was caught on surveillance.
"I think our guys on the road, our officers did a great job, they were able to pull video footage, got a partial temporary tag plate where we figured out where it was and ended up locating the registered owner of the vehicle,” said Asbury.
The package delivery was around 9 a.m.
The car was stolen just after 11.
Police tracked down the delivery driver and her car in Bay Village. By that afternoon, officers recovered the Audi in Garfield Heights.
"Our victim's credit cards and purse were also stolen; those were not recovered during the recovery of the vehicle,” said Asbury.
While the detective says this particular theft case is unusual, it’s not uncommon to see some delivery drivers using personal cars.
"A lot of these services you can get within three hours and two hours and from my experience, those typically aren't being delivered by an Amazon employee they're actually being delivered by another company that's delivering packages for them,” said Asbury.
There can be a risk with the convenience of home deliveries. Police recommend getting a doorbell camera, not just for your records but to help police if there's a problem.
"I'd recommend if you're going to do that do you really have to have it that night or can you wait until the next day to get one-day shipping, so you know when your product's coming," said Asbury.
As for the car thieves. No one has been arrested or charged but police expect that will be the fate for all three.
"If you steal a vehicle here, we're going to find the vehicle, we're going to look for that vehicle, we're going to do it quickly and we're going to get the cars back,” said Asbury.
News 5 Investigators did reach out to Amazon about this case.
Amazon spokesman, Branden Baribeau, says they’re reviewing the information and will work with law enforcement as they investigate.
According to Amazon, to be eligible for the Delivery Service Partner or DSP program, DSP’s must ensure their delivery associates have a valid driver’s license, pass a criminal background check, motor vehicle record check, and a drug test.
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