Watch as this man unlatches a closed gate in New York City and starts stuffing a box into his bag. What the man didn't know, resident Carlos Mejia says those were just decoy packages he put outside his queen's home to catch porch pirates.

I just didn't want nobody to take them, bro. What you got in there? Nothing, man.

I've been losing a lot of money on packages, and just that week, I lost two packages.

That man then offering some some explanation.

What you got in that? This is my stuff. I live right there. Get on your knees.

Mejia then calling the police, but not before the man tried to get away, and Mejia stopped him again, grabbing him and bringing him back to the ground.

Officer, what am I being arrested for?

34-year-old Victor Stazone arrested and charged with petty larceny and trespassing. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

He was trying to make me feel bad. I wasn't having it. Whatever that guy is going through, Everybody has problems, but that doesn't give you the right to go around staying in people's packages.

In California, it was the porch pirate taking a new approach. A Sacramento homeowner flabbergasted when a garbage bag appeared to waddle itself up to his doorstep and swipe a small package. Across the country, porch pirates are infuriating homeowners, says package theft expert Ben Stickle.

I think what we're probably seeing is the general public getting a little fed up with the rate at which packages are being stolen.

To make matters worse, there seems to be no easy fix in sight.

Oftentimes, the packages have a very low value, and so we don't see a lot of emphasis frequently from the police with this. It's not that they don't want to, It just has a competition with other types of crime and other things that are going on.

For now, Mejia says he's just happy he stopped one alleged theft, but cautions others against taking matters into their own hands like he did.

I don't recommend it because I know you put your life on the line. And I guess I was lucky enough that this guy didn't have anything because I know a lot of people that do this stuff walk around with weapons nowadays.

As for what you can do to protect your packages, experts say to limit the time your belongings are left unattended. They say you can ship things to your workplace. That can often help. And also just asking delivery drivers to help out by hiding items on your property, maybe behind a planter or something like that. And surprisingly, they They say cameras don't seem to be that effective at being a deterrent. As we saw in this piece, cameras are right there, and people often still try to take those packages. They say if the act is already in progress by the time that thief notices the camera, they'll often go ahead and take it. But they say signs put up farther away from your house can make it a less appealing target to those porch pirates.

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