Good Samaritan saves Christmas after finding stolen packages dumped by porch pirates, returning them to families

HOUSTON – A good Samaritan who wanted to make Christmas whole again for some folks who were targeted by thieves got a less than jolly reception from some of them.

Amanda Trevino and her husband were driving along the 1000 block of South Peek Road in Katy on Sunday when they spotted something unexpected. Christmas packages abandoned along the roadside. Some open, some not.

They’d been stolen by porch pirates, who ditched the ones not deemed valuable enough to keep or sell.

Trevino said she scooped up about half a dozen packages that hadn’t been looted and contacted Amazon and the Postal service to come get them. But said she was told that she should keep the packages, or donate them to charity. The customers would be compensated once they reported them missing. But she said that didn’t sit right with her.

“Just seeing the children’s’ toys in there and seeing that there was a note that said ‘surprise,’” Trevino said. “They didn’t know they were going to get those toys. They didn’t know they were missing a package. So I felt like I need to just give them their gifts. It wasn’t for me to keep.”

So in the spirit of Christmas, Trevino set out to deliver them herself, going door to door like one of Santa’s helpers. She was surprised by the not very warm reception she got.

“One person would not open the door and told me to leave the package on the door step and walk away,” she said. “Another one said if they were stolen why are their contents still in here.”

Trevino said most of the people threatened her like a suspect. Only Brett Hurst and his wife expressed thanks when she returned a book the thieves had stolen off their front porch.

“She came by and brought us the package and we were just very impressed with her good Samaritan attitude to bring us the package,” Brett Hurst said.

Trevino chalks up the cold reception she got from the other customers to the uncertainty and stress we’re all living through now. She said it wouldn’t deter her from doing it all again.

“I just know with the times now, people are on edge. I would still do it again,” Trevino said.

She said she is keeping Christmas in her heart in spite of the pandemic, which should make her a role model for everyone in these troubled times.