A 53-year-old northeast Wyoming man told police he stole dozens of packages from a Gillette United Parcel Service facility just for “the rush” he gets by taking things and thought nobody would notice because so many packages go through the warehouse.
Larry Munday, who lives in Rozet near Gillette, waived his Monday preliminary hearing in Campbell County Circuit Court and will face felony theft charges for allegedly stealing 168 packages from UPS worth more than $3,800 in a span of about 10 days.
Munday worked overnight at the Gillette facility as a cleaner and was caught on surveillance video sifting through items in an overflow truck and putting trash bags full of things into his vehicle, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.
When questioned by an investigator with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, Munday allegedly admitted he first took a package that had fallen off a UPS truck around Christmastime, the affidavit says.
Munday said he doesn’t have any family and friends, and all he does is go to work then go home, according to the affidavit. Keeping the package “made him feel like someone gave it to him.”
Stealing packages during his overnight shifts cleaning at the UPS facility just “spiraled” from there, Munday allegedly told the investigator.
That spiral picked up speed recently when he allegedly stole at least 168 packages from June 3 through June 12, the affidavit says.
Stolen Items Found At His Place
Porch pirates who don’t want the hassle of searching all over town for unattended packages to pilfer could just get a job at the delivery warehouse and take them from there, like Munday is accused of.
Along with admitting he took dozens and dozens of packages from his overnight shifts, many of the stolen items were found at his Rozet home when officers executed a search warrant June 13, the affidavit says.
When asked if he sold the other things or gave them away, Munday allegedly said if he didn’t keep them himself, he’d throw them away in the county landfill. He wasn’t trying to make money, he just got a “rush” from stealing them.
Asked if he felt remorse for stealing from UPS, Munday reportedly said, “Not really as UPS had insurance.”
Caught On Video
The Campbell County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the alleged UPS thefts when a Sturgis, South Dakota, business reported items it had shipped to Gillette went missing.
A package containing a number of firearms suppressors that were sent to a Gillette gunsmith were returned to the warehouse June 3 after a UPS driver attempted to delivery it but couldn’t because it required a signature.
When the gunsmith went to the UPS center to pick up the package himself June 6, he was told it was “missing,” the affidavit says.
Right after that, a local orthodontist also reported a stolen package containing a number of items worth more than $800, according to the document.
UPS told the orthodontist that the package never arrived in Gillette. However, a driver tipped off the orthodontist that other people were missing packages as well, the affidavit says.
When CCSO Investigator Heather Monson interviewed the local UPS manager, he told her that “it was common for packages to go missing occasionally,” but that more than 100 had disappeared in the last two weeks.
They were all taken from an overnight “package car” at the facility, which is a truck where returned, undeliverable or on-hold packages are kept, according to the affidavit. Only Munday, another cleaner and a mechanic are there overnight.
After setting up surveillance video on the package car, Monson reports in the affidavit that Munday was observed sifting through packages on the truck — where he wasn’t allowed — then seconds later putting full garbage bags in his truck. Back-checking UPS camera video from earlier showed him doing the same at other times, the affidavit says.
When officers searched Munday’s home, they found the firearms suppressors from the first report behind his couch.
By waiving his preliminary hearing, Munday’s case is elevated to felony-level Campbell County District Court. As of Monday afternoon, he remained in the Campbell County Detention Center held on a $5,000 cash-only bond.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
