Mountain View police arrest package thief who took items from San Jose, Cupertino

Mountain View police recently arrested a San Jose man who was found with several stolen packages inside his car.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, a Mountain View officer pulled over a gray BMW on Gretel Lane and Cuesta Drive after he saw that the car’s registration tabs were several months expired. The officer spoke with the driver, 29-year-old Brian Phillips, who was on his way to make a delivery for a local company.

During a search of the car, the officer discovered several packages, along with shipping receipts, that did not belong to Phillips, as well as some drug paraphernalia. The officer learned that at least one of the packaged items had been stolen, and arrested Phillips for possession of stolen property.

In the officer’s follow-up investigation, he learned that all of the packages inside Phillips’ car were stolen from people living in San Jose or Cupertino. The officer has reached out to all the victims, who confirmed their items that had been taken.

When having packages delivered to your homes, there are ways to ensure that the items you ordered and are looking forward to enjoying are kept safe. You can schedule your package delivery for a time that you are home. You can also have your packages delivered to your work during business hours.

If you feel comfortable doing so, you can have the package either delivered to a neighbor or have a neighbor pick up the package from your front porch and keep it for you until you get home. If you are an Amazon user, you can take advantage of Amazon Locker, where you can pick up your package from local pickup locations.