Porch pirate kids steal package eat treats inside... But it was dog food

POLK COUNTY, FL – A young band of porch pirates in Polk County learned the hard way that crime doesn’t pay…and sometimes, it’ doesn’t taste that good either. A group of children aged 14, 13 and 11 roaming through Winter Haven’s Inwood neighborhood saw a Fed-Ex package on the doorstep of a Mrs. L., police here said. They decided to snatch the package and have a go at it what was inside. The boys opened the package and ate the treats and later told police the treats made their breath smell very bad. Police investigated and found the boys had eaten the dog treats they stole from the woman’s porch.

“Porch pirates struck at a residence in an Inwood neighborhood within the Haven of Winter,” police said. “Ms. L was home all day, but was unaware that Fed Ex delivered a package to her doorstep. She was also unaware that three porch pirates invaded her space and swiped the package, until she was notified of the crime by her neighbor.”

The neighbor received a notification on his phone from his Ring doorbell.

“He saw the three suspects on his porch, but after the package was delivered to Ms. L’s home, they ran across the street and swiped it,” the police added. “The suspects were youngins, so a patrol deputy who used to be the School Resource Deputy for the local middle school looked at the video. She recognized just two of the three suspects, but the third was soon identified. The suspects are 14, 13, and 11 years old. Well, the little scamps were located and arrested. One last bit of information that you might find interesting. The boys opened the package and found treats inside. Two of them ate some treats. They told the detective that the treats made their breath smell bad. That’s not surprising since they were dog treats. The boys even knew they were dog treats, but wanted to try them anyway.”

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