VIDEO: Long Beach homeowner recalls catching porch pirate red-handed
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A porch pirate was caught on video in front of a home in Long Beach, and the homeowner who caught the suspect red-handed says she wanted to make sure that woman knew she was being watched.
Ring video captured a woman walking up to the front door of Shirah Booker's house and taking a letter left on top of the mailbox.
"When I opened the app, I see her grabbing the letter and it was kind of one of those moments like, 'Oh, you got the right one today!'" Booker laughed.
VIDEO: Long Beach homeowner confronts, chases off suspected porch pirate
Booker was in bed around 11:30 a.m. Thursday when she got an alert from her security system's motion detectors. When she heard the chime a second time, she realized someone was at her front door.
"I kind of opened the door a little quietly 'cause I want to catch her in the act. I don't want her to run. I need you to know I'm coming," Booker said.
"For the most part, I think of myself to be calm, cool and collected, but sometimes you do have to get a little rice crispy and snap, crackle and pop," Booker said. "People need to know you're not the one to mess with."
Booker called the police after the woman took off. The mother of three says she has taken self-defense training and felt like she had control over the porch pirate. She wasn't afraid.
"I'm just over it. It's like a point for the good guy finally," Booker said, adding that only part of her name explains how she handled the situation. "There was no 'shyness' at all but it was 'book-her,' I did get her!"
The suspected porch pirate didn't end up taking anything. Booker said she got everything back, even the stamp from her envelope, which was a thank you card from someone who attended an autism event that Booker hosted.
She posted on social media, "You may wanna think twice about stealing from my house. Just FYI -- I see everything!"
