Thief caught on camera stealing packages from Astoria woman's doorstep

ASTORIA, N.Y. (WABC) -- Some crystal clear surveillance video caught a thief on camera stealing packages from the front steps at a home in Queens.

Cecelia Leon was shocked at just how easy it was.

Police say the thief was caught on video stepping through Cecelia's front gate and helping himself to two packages, just delivered to her doorstep.

He stuffed them into a bag and calmly walks away.

"I was kind of outraged. I thought who is this guy, and how comfortable he looked doing this. He looked very at ease going house to house and taking stuff," Leon said.

She says a neighbor later saw the thief opening the packages and dumping one of them containing a book into a trash can. The other package was a bathing suit.

"He apparently saw this guy walking down the block going house to house looking for packages to steal," Leon said.

He threw out your book and kept the bathing suit?" Eyewitness News said.

"Yes, yes," Leon said.

Cecelia is hoping that someone recognizes the thief, the sooner the better. But when Eyewitness News showed the video to her next door neighbor, she recognized the man right away.

"I saw him this morning when I was walking my dog actually. I was that way and I saw him coming up the block and I turned around and looked at him, and he saw me look at him and he turned right back and went towards the avenue," said Monte Attard, an Astoria resident.

Attard says it's appalling and a wakeup call for everyone on the block.

"He just walks in like he owns the place, looks for packages," Attard said. "Now I'm worried that I'm missing things!"