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Move over Santa, police in North Carolina stepped in to save Christmas after a FedEx driver dumped a haul of parcels in a forest.
Greenville Police retrieved the pile of packages after a Good Samaritan spotted a delivery driver throwing the boxes away on December 6.
The driver, Dontrell Weaver, was later charged with larceny by employee and littering, according to police.
A statement shared to the Greenville Police's Facebook page, on Tuesday, revealed a woman spied some "suspicious activity" on E. 10th Street, behind 33 East Apartments.
When cops arrived they found a huge pile of boxes, unceremoniously dumped just before Christmas, intended for more than 70 different locations.
Sharing a snap of officers with the haul on social media, the police said: "Christmas is saved ya'll."
"The caller reported she had just witnessed a FedEx truck dump a load of packages in the parking lot and throw the boxes into a nearby wooded area.
"The witness was able to get a license plate number for the truck, as well as a detailed description of the driver. Fortunately, all the packages were recovered and delivered to their rightful owners (73 different stops!)"
"The driver, Dontrell Weaver, was charged with Larceny by Employee and Littering >500 lbs.
"A good reminder—Santa isn't the only one watching this time of year!"
Greenville Police Public Information Officer Kristen Hunter praised the woman who called the authorities after witnessing the driver offloading the packages.
"She was a really good witness and got a lot of great identifying information, she was able to provide a good suspect description, license plate number, which led us to the delivery driver and helped us recover all of those packages so FedEx could safely deliver them to their destination," CBS Austin quoted.
FedEx issued a statement condemning the actions, calling it "completely unacceptable," and confirming Weaver no longer works for them.
The delivery company said: "This incident is completely unacceptable and contrary to our commitment to treating millions of customers' packages each day with the utmost care. The affected packages were quickly recovered and delivered to their intended recipients.
Criminal Charges
"We continue to cooperate with the authorities as the criminal justice process moves to the next stage. In addition to being charged with a criminal offense, the individual involved is no longer providing service on behalf of FedEx Ground," The National Desk reported.
Greenville Police's Facebook post amassed more than 2,000 likes, as people praised the cops for ensuring people received their parcels.
Bill Jacobs wrote: "Thank you to GPD, the witness and all who made all those deliveries."
Beverly Dail Haley commented: "Great job Good Samaritan and PD."
And Erica Sumrell Grimsley added: "Thank goodness!! I'm still waiting on something from Nov and wondering if this happened to me as well as it keeps stating 'delayed'."
About the writer
Rebecca Flood is Newsweek's Audience Editor for Life & Trends, and joined in 2021 as a senior reporter. Rebecca specializes ... Read more