NASHVILLE, TN — A would-be porch pirate’s scheme unraveled in spectacular fashion this week when he allegedly stole packages from a front porch, drove them across town, and accidentally delivered them to the doorstep of an off-duty Metro Nashville police officer.

Jason Trey Maples, 36, is accused of following an Amazon delivery van through the Sylvan Park neighborhood on Monday afternoon, swiping packages from porches moments after the driver moved on. Investigators say Maples collected at least nine parcels from four different addresses before driving to his girlfriend’s apartment in East Nashville to drop them off.

Special Delivery, Special Circumstances

The problem: Maples went to the wrong apartment. According to the arrest affidavit, he carried the packages to unit 4B instead of 4D, stacking them neatly on the welcome mat of Sergeant Rita Okafor, a twelve-year veteran of the Metro Nashville Police Department who was home on her day off.

“I opened the door and there were nine packages that weren’t mine. I looked at the Ring camera and watched a man I’d never seen carefully arrange them on my doorstep like he was doing me a favor. It was the politest crime I’ve ever witnessed.” — Sgt. Rita Okafor, MNPD

Okafor reviewed her Ring doorbell footage, ran the license plate of Maples’ Hyundai Elantra, and called her colleagues. Officers arrested Maples at his girlfriend’s actual apartment — unit 4D — twenty minutes later. He was reportedly holding a box cutter and wearing a headlamp, which his attorney has described as “coincidental.”

Maples was booked into the Davidson County Jail on nine counts of theft of property. Three of the stolen packages contained dog food, one contained a bathroom scale, and one contained a framed photo of someone else’s grandmother. Bond has been set at $5,000.