Baltimore Man Chases Thieves, Returns Stolen Packages

D. FitzGerald Smith couldn't sleep, so he took a walk through his West Baltimore neighborhood at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning. What he witnessed next turned a routine stroll into a moment that would restore his neighbor's faith in humanity.

Smith, known as Chip to his friends, spotted two people breaking into cars and stealing packages from a white SUV. He immediately started yelling at them, and the thieves panicked and dropped everything before running away.

The packages had an address on them, so Smith rang the doorbell at Jiri Cruz's home a few blocks away. When she didn't answer (she was still asleep), he refused to leave the items unattended.

"I'm determined that this woman is going to get her packages back," Smith said. "I'm not going to leave them here, I'm gonna pick them up and put them on her doorstep."

Smith's doorbell camera footage shows him carefully carrying the packages to safety. But he didn't stop there.

He dropped a note in Cruz's mailbox so she'd know what happened. When they connected by phone, Smith learned the packages contained items the community had fundraised to buy for improving a local green space.

Sunny's Take

Cruz moved to Baltimore because she heard there were good people here, but recent experiences had tested that belief. Meeting Smith changed everything.

When they finally met face to face, Cruz was overwhelmed with emotion. "Things like this really crush your spirit and chip at your happiness, but when you meet people like you, it brings back some faith in people," she told him through tears.

She gave him fresh sunflowers and a card. They shared a long hug.

Smith, who was raised to help his neighbors, felt hesitant when people started calling him a hero. To him, what he did was simply normal behavior, nothing extraordinary.

But for Cruz, it was life changing. "That's it, we're friends for life," she said. "I feel safer, I do. I met Chip, I'm good now."

Smith smiled and responded, "And you are now, as I say, you are my sister."

Now Cruz knows her new friend lives just a few blocks away, watching out for the neighborhood.