Metro

New York porch pirate used DoorDash job to steal packages during deliveries: police

By
Nicholas McEntyre
Published Oct. 5, 2023, 4:55 a.m. ET

A New York porch pirate targeted homes in broad daylight under the guise of delivering food as she canvassed residential neighborhoods for her next target, police said.

Juliana Saggaram, 33, of East Elmhurst, Queens, was arrested Wednesday after she used her position as a DoorDash driver to approach two homes and swipe packages.

Saggaram conducted the scheme twice in 48 hours before she was caught in the act on Sept. 3 in Manhasset, when a 54-year-old victim reported the stolen package.

The alleged thief had stopped at a nearby Chipotle for a DoorDash order to use as cover, police said.

Saggaram was captured on a doorbell camera as she walked down the street with the DoorDash order in hand before approaching the home.

She then pretends to place the bag in front of the door and flees with the brown box behind her Door Dash bag.

Juliana Saggaram was arrested Wednesday after she used her position as a DoorDash driver to freely approach two homes and swipe packages.
Juliana Saggaram was arrested Wednesday after she used her position as a DoorDash driver to approach two homes and swipe packages. Nassau County Police Department
Saggaram conducted the scheme twice in 48 hours before she was caught in the act on Sept. 3 in Manhasset, when a 54-year-old victim reported the stolen package.
Saggaram conducted the scheme twice in 48 hours before she was caught in the act on Sept. 3 in Manhasset, when a 54-year-old victim reported the stolen package. Nassau County Police Department
Saggaram was captured on the doorbell camera as she walked down the street with the DoorDash order in hand before approaching the home.
Saggaram was captured on a doorbell camera as she walked down the street with the DoorDash order in hand before approaching the home. Nassau County Police Department

The thief, wearing a black tank top, a yellow skirt, sunglasses and AirPods, nonchalantly turns around and walks down the steps away from the door before picking up her pace and jogging back to her gray SUV.

Saggaram was charged with two counts of petit larceny and issued an appearance ticket.

She is due back in Nassau County First District Court on Oct. 20.

She then pretends to place the bag in front of the door as she flees with the brown box behind her Door Dash bag.
She then pretends to place the bag in front of the door as she flees with the brown box behind her DoorDash bag. Nassau County Police Department
The thief, wearing a black tank top, yellow skirt sunglasses and AirPods, nonchalantly turned around and walked down the steps away from the door.
The thief, wearing a black tank top, yellow skirt, sunglasses and AirPods, nonchalantly turned around and walked down the steps away from the door. Nassau County Police Department
The thief picked up her pace and jogged back to her gray SUV before fleeing down the road.
The thief picked up her pace and jogged back to her gray SUV before fleeing. Nassau County Police Department

In November, an NYC man disguised himself as an Amazon worker and made off with an armful of packages from a Queens apartment building,

The crook entered the building near 44th Avenue and 84th Street around 10:20 a.m. Nov. 9 and grabbed the boxes from the common space before being confronted by a 49-year-old worker and punching the employee in the face.

While the crook was still at large with an undetermined amount of loot, members of the building industry said the crime was just one of a pattern they felt was being fueled by lax penalties for such offenses.