'Porch Pirates' Steal Wrong Package, Toss It from Car After Finding Worms Everywhere
Few things are as rage-inducing as package thieves, who seem to coalesce out of the ether every holiday season. Of course, all that melts away when stories about these unscrupulous people getting their just deserts begin to pop up.
One apparent package thief in Florida is getting media attention for stealing an unusual delivery — and throwing it out after discovering its contents.
Inside the box were 500 worms for a bearded dragon lizard that lives at the residence, reports WFTV-TV in Orlando.
The daylight theft was caught on a doorbell camera.
And these weren’t just any worms, either. They were superworms.
Superworms dwarf the standard mealworms usually given to pet reptiles. They are the larvae of a species of darkling beetle. Although only measuring a few inches long, these creatures wield formidable mandibles capable of delivering a painful bite.
According to a care sheet from the Herp Shop, superworms can even chew their way through plastic containers.
And if this package thief was hoping to turn a profit with these worms, she’s out of luck.
The average cost for 500 of them hovers a little above $10.
She would have to steal over 130 packages of superworms (and sell them at full retail price) to afford a shiny new iPhone. At 500 per package, that would come out to more than 65,000 of these creepy crawlies. Not exactly a lucrative and glamorous criminal enterprise.
This woman is lucky she didn’t steal from someone who has a vendetta against package thieves. Instead of lizard food, she very well might have been met with a shotgun round.
Last year in Washington state, a man introduced the “Boom Box,” a fake package rigged with a blank 12 gauge shell. When the package is lifted, a mechanism triggers, firing the shell.
Fortunately, the man also had the wisdom to install a camera pointing directly at his invention.
Although the woman in Florida didn’t have a run-in with the Boom Box, she still isn’t in the clear. Police are hoping to charge her with a felony if her identity can be found.
The box was later found in a trash can. Law enforcement surmised she quickly dumped the package after discovering its contents. The superworms were still alive and intact, and were returned to their true owner.
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