Delivery driver look-alike burglarizes garages in South Jordan
Dec 23, 2021, 6:35 PM | Updated: 8:56 pm
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — South Jordan police are trying to catch a man who appeared to have been prowling around a neighborhood, stealing a woman’s wallet and then going on a shopping spree with her bank cards.
That woman believes the burglar came up with a creative cover in order to stay under-the-radar, and she said she’s not the only victim.
This time of year, neighborhoods are filled with all kinds of cars as delivery drivers bring packages, food and gifts to people’s doorsteps.
So, when a car pulled up to Lindy Johnson’s house in South Jordan Sunday, anyone watching may not have thought it looked suspicious.
“Doesn’t seem like anything’s out of the ordinary,” Johnson said.
What did catch her attention was a notification she received on her phone a little while later.
“I got a text message from my credit card company, asking if… I was the one who submitted a charge for almost $500 to Walmart,” she recounted.
Johnson definitely did not make that charge.
She soon realized her wallet disappeared from her car, which was parked in the garage. Johnson said she forgot to close it and left it open for only about 10-20 minutes after she shoveled and salted the driveway.
When she watched her surveillance video, Johnson saw what unfolded so easily in that short timeframe, in broad daylight. That’s when she noticed the car pull up in front of her house, just past her driveway.
“A man got out of the passenger side door, walked up with a food bag in his hand like he was an Uber Eats or DoorDash delivery food person, walked into my garage… snagged the wallet and just got back in the passenger side and drove off,” Johnson explained.
Caton Hanson, who lives not far from Johnson, had the same thing happen to him in November. His surveillance video also captured the burglary.
“It’s like his little cover up,” Hanson said.
The video shows a man walk up in the early evening, holding a paper bag and looking like he’s carrying a takeout order. He carefully approaches the open garage, calls out to see if anyone is there, then digs into the garage and helps himself to Hanson’s wife’s purse.
Hanson described how his wife’s bank card ended up with $1,000 of charges at Smith’s grocery store.
“My idea is that this guy is driving around the neighborhood, looking for open garages,” Hanson theorized. “If someone’s there, they’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, sorry wrong house.’ If no one’s there, ‘I can get in and grab whatever I can real fast.'”
They believe the food delivery façade fooled anyone who may have seen the car or burglar around the neighborhood. Even Johson’s next-door neighbor, who walks into the surveillance camera’s view just as the supposed delivery driver is leaving, suspected nothing.
Johnson now must replace all her cards and driver’s license the week of Christmas.
“It just stinks,” she said. “Temporary, but it still stinks.”
She and Hanson are now warning others to watch out, to make sure those deliveries, don’t turn into burglaries.
Hanson said he now makes sure his family doesn’t leave the garage door open at all, and they’ve changed the settings on their security camera to get more notifications.
He and Johnson each filed police reports.
South Jordan police confirmed they are investigating Johnson’s burglary, and hope to identify a suspect. Police recommended that people keep their garage doors closed at all times, and stay vigilant.
