Police arrest ‘porch pirate’ in Bloomington. Here’s how to keep your package deliveries safe.

Authorities in Bloomington have arrested an alleged “porch pirate” accused of stealing numerous packages from residents’ steps.

Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges announced this week that 44-year-old Michael Reller was arrested and charged with felony theft. Hodges said police tracked down Reller while investigating a theft from a car on July 31.

Surveillance footage captured Reller arrive that day in a white Lexus at a gas station in Bloomington, according to charges. He walked into the store to allegedly steal a bottle of power steering fluid. He then left the gas station and got into a lawn care worker’s truck, which was left unlocked while the worker checked out the gas station’s lawn.

Reller allegedly stole from the truck a backpack with clothes, a new iPhone valued at $2,000 and a wallet with a debit card and $270 in cash before bringing the items to his Lexus and driving away, according to the criminal complaint against him.

As authorities investigated, victim reports and doorbell camera footage tied Reller to three separate mail thefts between July 20 and Aug. 1, according to charges.

“You don’t come to Bloomington and try to steal stuff off people’s porches,” Hodges said in a video titled “Porch Pirate Arrested” that featured footage of Reller’s alleged thefts.

“These people are very hard to catch, so we’re going to continue to go through everything he’s got and make sure if we can find some of this stuff for some of these folks and give them their stuff back.”

Here’s what the U.S. Postal Inspection Service recommends for people to avoid having packages stolen:

Pick up mail promptly, and ask if it’s overdue: Residents should avoid leaving letters and packages at their door for a long time. If valuable mail did not arrive when expected, contact the sender as soon as possible.

Arrange for a quick pickup: If you can’t be home when a package arrives, USPS suggests making another arrangement or using the Hold for Pickup service. That allows recipients to get packages at a local U.S. Post Office.

Request a signature confirmation: If the mail is important, consider adding a signature confirmation to make sure it is delivered to the right person.

The city of Minneapolis also recommends sending packages to UPS or FedEx store locations and utilizing Amazon lock box facilities.