Alleged Serial Package thief in Teravista Caught

AUSTIN, Texas - “Surveillance cameras work,” that is the message the Williamson County Sheriff's Office is sending after they played a key role in an arrest.

Last week, around a dozen homes were hit in a single day by a package thief. Now, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office believe they have their man.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office recently arrested Dustin Alan Pruitt with his possible connection in this case. He is being held in Williamson County as he also has several warrants in both Dallas and Tarrant County for possession and theft.

“Everyone is very happy and relieved he's caught don't mess with Texas, don't mess with Teravista,” said Cherie Akiva who lives in Teravista

Last week around a dozen homes where Akiva lives were hit by a serial package thief.

“I felt violated we have a close neighborhood we have a nice neighborhood and I couldn't believe it was actually going on,” said Akiva.

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said they were able to track down Pruitt, the man they believe to be the person taking packages from a home in Teravista.

“We got him in the Austin area, we contacted APD and they supported us as far as resources to help make the arrest,” said Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody.

Sheriff Chody said when they found Pruitt they also found a lot of stolen property.

“Our goal is to get all the property back to the owners,” said Sheriff Chody. During the investigation, Sheriff Chody said the large number of surveillance cameras in the area played a key role.

“We had a lot of video to identify this suspect,” said Chody.

With the holidays just around the corner, Sheriff Chody said he wants this arrest to serve as an example to any potential thieves.

“If you commit a crime in Williamson county we're going to come and get you, you may think it's a small crime a package theft we are going to use our resources to catch you,” said Sheriff Chody.

While the suspect in this case was caught the sheriff's office is urging people to still be cautious when ordering packages online.

“If you know you're not going to be home to contact either your neighbor, the carrier to change the address to a neighbor who would be home or have a neighbor come pick it up. Don't assume because a package is on your front door step that it's safe obviously this shows that it's not,” said Sheriff Chody.

For the holidays, the Round Rock Police Department is letting residents send packages to the department's headquarters for safe keeping until they are able to pick them up. They will be doing this through December 22. You will need to bring an ID as well as proof of the order.