A vigilant neighbor and a homeowner on the 900 block of N. Catalina St. worked together to prevent a suspect from taking a package off the homeowner’s porch during the afternoon of Saturday, March 15.

Around 1:50 p.m. that day, just after the mail carrier left a package on the porch of his house, one homeowner opened his front door to retrieve the package and saw a young male Hispanic bending down to pick up the package.

At the same time, the homeowner’s neighbor across the street saw the suspect reaching for the package and shouted for someone to call the police, according to Sgt. Darin Ryburn of the Burbank Police Department.

The suspect, described as being about 5’6″ and 150 lbs., left the porch area and walked down the sidewalk away from the property. The victim called police and the witness followed the suspect and tried to prevent him from leaving the area.

However, by the time the police arrived, the suspect had gotten into a dark blue four-door vehicle and left the area. The witness and the victim did not try to physically prevent the suspect from leaving.

“This is why we encourage neighbors to look out for each other. It’s a fantastic example of being aware of what’s going on in your neighborhood,” said Ryburn.

“We have had thefts of packages from front porches and these two individuals did exactly what we want the public to do: they didn’t get involved physically but they got good information.”

Previous to the attempted petty theft, the witness had observed the same dark blue vehicle driving up and down the street three times and perhaps noticed something wasn’t quite right, added Ryburn.

The investigation is ongoing by the Burbank Police Department.