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Man in Phoenix neighborhood caught in surveillance stealing food donations

Posted at 6:44 PM, May 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-15 09:45:32-04

A man was caught on camera near 19th Avenue and Bell Road in Phoenix swiping a bag of food, meant to be donated for Stamp Out Hunger and taking off.

"I looked down the street and noticed that the mailman was still coming, but the food was gone," said the homeowner who captured the video.

He asked ABC15 not to identify him, but he did want the video captured on his security cameras to be shown to the public.

"Kinda nonchalantly walking across the street, bending down and picking it up," the homeowner said, describing the video. "Then, turning around and walking off."

The homeowner said he's concerned that this isn't the man's first time either.

"I didn't think that... just taking it from us is a big deal," the homeowner said. "But, I'm wondering if he drove around the neighborhood picking them all up."

Around the world, this one-day event collected a record-setting 80.1 million pounds of donations last year.

And on Saturday, workers with Saint Mary's Food Bank spent the day sorting through what did actually make it their way.

"We get less donations at this time then any other time," explained Jerry Brown with the food bank. "After the Stamp Out Hunger drive, our donations really slide because so many people head off on vacation for their summer. They're not here to donate even if they wanted to."

And even though it seems pretty low for someone to swipe from those in need, this homeowner tells us he hopes that bag of food really helps the swiping suspect.

"If he took it, maybe he needs it," the homeowner said. "So, I hope that's the case."

The homeowner did contact Phoenix Police. But, officers told him there was not much they could do because a license plate was not captured on the surveillance video.

If you recognize the man in the video, reach out to Phoenix Police.