Man deters porch pirates with loud bangs from decoy package

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A West Virginia man tired of having packages stolen from the porch of a home he is renovating rigged up a decoy package to scare away the so-called "porch pirates" with a loud noise.

Joshua Garnes said more than 20 incidents have been caught on camera during the past two months of people stealing packages and other items from the porch of a home he's fixing up in Huntington.

"They've even stolen my no trespassing signs," Garnes told WCHS/WVAH. "So I had to put metal ones up and screw them down because they would rip them off."

Garnes said he has started leaving a decoy box on the porch that contains a trip wire that sets off a loud bang, similar to a gunshot, when the package is moved.

"It deters them from the property because that's the first thing that they see is a box so if they grab the box, hear the bang they'll hopefully leave quick," Garnes said.

The box has already proven effective and Garnes shared video on Facebook of would-be thieves being scared off by the unexpected sound.

"There's only so much you can do so why not have a little bit of fun with it," Garnes said.