Troy police have arrested two men they believe to be involved in the theft of packages off the porch of a Wilson Drive home Monday.

Dustin Tommy Senn, 38, of Goshen and Larry Douglas Davis III, 28, of Brundidge, are both charged with fourth-degree theft of property in connection to the crime.

Troy Police Chief Randall Barr said a neighbor called police at 4:45 p.m. Monday to notify them of the possible theft.

“The caller gave a good description of the subjects and watched them place the packages in the back of a grey Toyota pickup,” Barr said. “The pickup was last seen travelling southbound on Alabama Highway 87.”

Investigators soon made contact with the pickup truck, Barr said, recovering six packages in the back of the truck that were addressed to the residence where the theft had been reported.

Senn and Davis were taken into custody and transported to the Troy City Jail where they were both processed and released on bond.

Barr said residents need to be on high alert for these types of crimes especially with the holiday season arriving.

“This time of the year we usually see an increase in this type of activity,” Barr said. “People are doing a lot of shopping online and having packages sent; a lot of these are items intended as gifts.”

Barr said there are things that residents can do to make themselves a les slikely target of such crimes.

“First line of defense in that needs to be prevention don’t make it easy for the people out there looking,” Barr said. “Don’t let them do their Christmas shopping on your dime. Sometimes you can get a text or email when a package arrives or some workplaces will even allow you to have it delivered there. You want to minimize the amount of time that package is sitting on your porch.”

Barr also encourages people to keep a look out for their neighbors such as this caller did.

“This individual saw these people took the package off this porch and they knew these people didn’t live there,” Barr said. “They did a really good job giving us a good description of the guys and the vehicle and the direction of travel. Without that neighbor’s involvement, these guys might have gotten away with somebody else’s Christmas gifts.”

Package theft isn’t the only source of concern during the holiday season. Barr urges residents to make sure car doors as locked as they go out and shop locally.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is to lock your door every time you leave your vehicle,” Barr said.  “That ounce of prevention can really save you a lot of trouble in the long run; you never know who might be in the area looking for something to steal. Make sure anything of value in your vehicle is out of sight. Put it in the backseat, the trunk –somewhere out of sight – and never, ever leave any weapons inside those vehicles.”