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Neighbor dispute over leash rule leads to package thefts

3 years 6 months 3 weeks ago Wednesday, September 02 2020 Sep 2, 2020 September 02, 2020 6:35 PM September 02, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ

DENHAM SPRINGS - A dispute over a leash rule drove a wedge between some neighbors and led to the sheriff's office being called. When things starting becoming questionable, one of the parties got a camera and the other was caught stealing.

Brett, who prefers not to use his last name, says his Ring doorbell helped him connect the dots.

"I had some packages start coming up missing and I've never had that happen before in my life," he said.

One package went missing and then another. The second package delivered to his door was tracked by Amazon. Brett saw that it was successfully delivered after the delivery person snapped a photo of it and loaded it to his account. Except that package went missing.

It's why he bought a Ring doorbell and put a dummy box outside.

"The very next day we found out who was stealing them," he says.

Brett says the camera captured high school teacher and neighbor, Daniel Berlin, taking that package. Three minutes later the doorbell camera captures Berlin returning the empty box, resealed with electrical tape. The evidence was turned over to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office.

According to the report with LPSO, Berlin admitted to taking three packages from the doorstep. The report also says Berlin did so due to a dispute relative to a leash complaint made by the victim.

A few days before the thefts, Brett says he got into a dispute with his neighbors over a leash rule. At the apartment complex where they live, dogs are supposed to be kept on a leash. If they're not, the owners can face a fine.

"Their dog jumped on my dog and when I reported them to the complex they were fined for it," said Brett.

He says stealing someone's property over a fine should not happen.

"You're a role model. Kids look up to you," Brett said. "You teach them the right things, not wrong things."

Berlin was issued a misdemeanor summons. The item in the first package was returned to Brett, but the item in the second package was discarded.

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