The 23-year-old suspect claimed all the boxes in her car were for "building gingerbread houses" before appearing to admit on police bodycam footage to targeting homes with packages on their porches
Body camera footage released last week appears to show a woman suspected of “porch pirating” admit to authorities she was targeting homes and allegedly stealing packages.
23-year-old Taylor Nicole Dibella now faces seven charges related to theft in Montgomery and Blue Ash, Ohio.
“Looks like the defendant is accused of soliciting a 15-year-old juvenile to help her go around to several residences and steal parcels off of porches,” Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor David Wood told local news.
“These guys were traveling around following an Amazon delivery truck and basically snatched the packages off the front doorsteps as soon as they got done making the drop,” Montgomery police Sgt. Ken Bertz said. “Our third shift guys actually ended up being able to locate the suspect vehicle and made a stop on it, located a lot of the stolen packages and recovered a lot of stolen material.”
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In the bodycam footage, Dibella is seen being pulled over by officers.
“We keep getting reports of people stealing packages off porches. Where did all these boxes come from,” one officer asks the suspect, pointing to the back of the van she’s driving, which was clearly filled with boxes.
“We were building gingerbread houses. I got them out of the recycling. I just stopped right there,” Dibella claimed.
Once authorities began searching her vehicle the suspect started to cry for “mommy!” and appeared to call someone on her phone, who she claimed was her mother.
Dibella also claimed to law enforcement she was having an anxiety issue and tried to exit the vehicle against orders from the officers at the scene.
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Once taken into custody and placed in the back of a police cruiser, Dibella was asked by police why she was stealing packages.
“I was trying to make my rent money, and I was scared because the lady just texted me and told me she needed some money,” Dibella said in the video.
When probed about who needed money from her, Dibella said it was the “rent lady.”
She also appeared to claim the 15-year-old allegedly working with her also lived at her home along with two other minors she was not related to.
She claimed to be the unofficial guardian of the underage boy, saying the teen’s mother asked for help while she “got back on her feet.”
Dibella has been accused of stealing from multiple homes in the area with 16 confirmed victims, per WLWT5.
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