Porch pirates steal packages worth billions. Is shooting them justified?
One recent afternoon, Rakim Bradford encountered two teenage boys on the front porch of his Atlanta home. Suspecting them of stealing packages by his front door, Bradford allegedly opened fire with his handgun. Both boys were wounded, one critically.
Now Bradford faces charges of aggravated assault amid a debate over how far homeowners should be allowed to go to deter porch piracy.
Bradford, 34, has been defended by people who say the shooting was justified by property defense laws such as castle doctrine or stand your ground. They have asked prosecutors to drop Bradford’s charges, which carry a potential 20-year prison sentence.
However, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said the law is not on Bradford’s side.
“You can’t use deadly force to protect property,” he told Straight Arrow News.
Bradford spent three days behind bars before he was released on a $45,000 bond, according to jail records. He is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 7 for a pre-indictment preliminary hearing.
It is unclear whether the 15-year-old and the 16-year-old who were wounded, both of them juveniles, have been charged.
Porch piracy is a costly crime
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Package thefts have cost Americans $14.9 billion in losses in 2025, according to SafeWise.
The home security system SafeWise reported in November that package theft cost about $15 billion in losses this year. It noted thefts are on a decline but still present a problem, with about 250,000 incidents happening daily. The holiday season is an especially tempting time for thieves as packages are delivered to porches day and night.
Bradford’s arrest struck a nerve with many online commenters. Some think the charges should stick, but many others suggest that he had a right to protect his home against thieves.
“The Atlanta Police Department, we can’t protect you, but we can sure charge you when you protect yourself,” Stephen Biegel wrote on Atlanta Police Department’s Facebook page.
Others said the teens would think twice before making another attempt and called for them to be charged. Some even accused the Atlanta police of protecting criminals.
But state law says the use of force is not justified “unless the person using such force reasonably believes that it is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
“Someone stealing your packages is not a legal basis to use deadly force in Georgia,” Rahmani said.
“You cannot kill someone because they’re trying to steal your Amazon package or other package,” he added.
Atlanta Police release 911 calls
The Atlanta Police released recordings of two 911 calls from the day of the shooting. In one, a homeowner told the operator he heard gunshots and walked outside to see two teens who had injuries running away.
The caller can be heard instructing the teens to wrap clothing tightly around an arm to put pressure on the wound.
A different neighbor reported hearing a person yelling for help.
According to Bradford’s arrest warrant, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one of the injured teens told the police that he and his friend “agreed to steal” a package they had seen delivered to the home.
“Before they were able to take it,” the warrant said, “(the teen) stated that someone started shooting through the door and they fled on foot.”
Porch piracy major problem in America
Despite this high-profile incident, Atlanta didn’t crack the 10 worst metropolitan areas for package thefts in financial losses, according to SafeWise.
The company said Chicago had the most thefts: 6.5 million incidents totaling $254 million in losses. Baltimore, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Antonio and Virginia Beach, Va., rounded out the top 10.
“Even though fewer Americans say they’re worried about porch piracy,” SafeWise said, “package theft remains the most commonly experienced crime in our State of Safety Survey.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
