Mom's Strange Teaching

Tis the season for thieves to steal those Fed Ex Christmas packages that are delivered to homes. Well, in Portland, Oregon it sure is. The metro area here is known for having a low major crime rate, but an outrageously high minor crime tradition. Petty theft, vandalism, assault those kinds of crime are often commonly correlated with the high drug and alcohol addiction in the area. The criminals need money to support their habit, so they commit those annoying crimes. A few years ago, I myself had two package deliveries stolen from my front porch, a common crime here.

But the worst example of stealing package deliveries from residents' homes has occurred in Milwaukee, Oregon, located about 18 minutes from Portland. An Oregon mother has been captured after police found she forced her 9-year-old daughter to steal packages from other homes. Police officers in Milwaukee investigated a series of thefts involving packages being taken from homes after they were delivered. In one case on Dec. 2, a witness snapped a photo of the suspected vehicle and gave investigators a description of the suspect. Mom was soon nabbed!

The next day, police tracked down the suspect, identifying her as 49-year-old Mary Palmer-Correa. Police said the woman would drive to homes with her 9-year-old daughter as a passenger and then instruct the girl to steal packages from home porches.  The little girl would run to the car and off sped mom. What a life lesson in crime during the holiday season. Police found several stolen items inside Correa's home after apprehending her there. Some of the recovered items include books, cups, pillows, a light set and a TV wall mount, police said.

The good news is that, Correa, perhaps the world's worst mom, was taken to Oregon's Clackamas County Jail on theft charges. Let's hope the jail doesn't assign her work in the postal delivery room.