If you’ve ever wondered why so many people have cameras around their houses, it’s because their neighbors and other interlopers have proven time and time again that there’s nothing they won’t try to steal.
Many of us have an unfortunate familiarity with “porch pirates ” who steal our deliveries before we can get at them, but it’s also true that we never know when one of our belongings will catch the eye of someone with light fingers. And we can often find that if we didn’t catch them in the act on camera , we’d probably just assume we lost those items ourselves.
But while petty thefts happen every day, some criminals can stand out by growing a conscience and either returning what they stole or refusing to take everything they could.
That doesn’t exactly describe the man we’ll hear about today, but there is still something oddly courteous about how he went about his deed.
On April 1, a family in Port Arthur, Texas caught someone entering their back yard through a camera mounted in this sun room.
In the resulting video released by the Port Arthur Police Department, we can see that the burglar began by taking a bike and leaning it against the garbage bin in the background.
They have since identified him as Marcus Renard Hubbard.
But as the footage soon made clear, that’s not all Hubbard was allegedly looking to pilfer that day.
Before long, he returned into frame with a red lawnmower. But while a more expedient thief would likely start moving both of these items away by this point, it seems he wasn’t done hanging around.
After disappearing out of frame yet again, Hubbard returned with a can of gasoline and started pouring it into the mower.
According to KXAN , he had apparently intended to test the condition of the mower and could be seen cutting the grass strip next to the sun room.
Strangely, he didn’t stop there and apparently wanted to be sure the mower was capable of handling a whole lawn without any trouble.
So as we can see through another camera mounted at the front of the house, he would end up mowing most of his victim’s front lawn and even moved the loose fence post seen on his left to ensure he didn’t miss a spot.
However, this thoroughness would end up costing him the bike as police arrived on the scene before he could finish the job.
As their representative wrote on Facebook, “Upon Officers arrival Hubbard is seen running from the area while dragging the lawnmower with him.”
But as they would add, he soon appeared to realize that we wouldn’t be able to get away with this cumbersome item either.
In their words, “He abandons the lawnmower in an alley and evades apprehension.”
RELATED STORIES
You know a burglary didn’t go according to plan when all you end up accomplishing is mowing your victim’s lawn for free.
h/t: Facebook | Port Arthur Police Department
