Four West Philly High school students were arrested Friday, Nov. 30 for package thefts on the 4200 block of Spruce Street, according to police. Two students are 16 and two are 14. It was the first arrest for all of them.

Plainclothes officers saw six teens go onto the porches and check boxes between 43rd and 42nd streets on Spruce early Friday afternoon. When they stole one package the officers attempted to grab them but the teens ran and four of them were caught near 42nd and Chester. Two teens were able to get away.

Package thefts have been on the rise in the area in the last few weeks as is typical for the holiday season, so residents are advised to apply caution and report any suspicious behavior.

As the number of package deliveries increases before and during holidays, so does package theft. A neighbor sent this information and a warning to fellow West Philly residents to be extra careful receiving packages, especially during the holiday season.

“Today I got a call from a friendly stranger who happened to be waiting in a car across the street from my apartment to give a friend a ride. He saw four teens walking down the 4600 block of Spruce, doing what looked like checking porches for packages. When they got to my porch, they saw a package, opened it, and the friendly neighbor got out of his car to stop them, at which point they ran away with half of the contents of the box. Since my buzzer doesn’t work, my phone number is on my front door, which is how he managed to contact me. I came home and filed a police report.”

Reader Mike B. emails that while he was away between Oct. 5 and Oct. 9 his bicycle was gone from his front porch when he returned. Here’s the bike description, which Mike also put on the wall of the “Philadelphia Stolen Bikes” group on Facebook.

“Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike stolen from my front porch, 4400 block of Larchwood in University City, sometime between 10/5-10/9. The frame is gray/silver with chipped paint, with I think some old sticker residue. The tires are Schwalbe Marathons, and are pretty worn. There are two different styles of brake levers (one black, one silver), and shifters (right is a grip shifter and left is a trigger shifter), and the rubber grips are old and gummy. The saddle is black leather and foam, and is very worn (you might be able to read “Mikado” on it somewhere). It has a rigid fork and hardtail. It was locked with a cable lock (d’oh).”

A reader, Rachel, emails that her roommate’s bike (pictured below) was stolen yesterday from their house near 48th and Springfield:

Someone walked into our house yesterday afternoon when the door (sadly) was not latched and stole my roommate’s bike from our foyer. He commutes to work with it and it’s a really sharp looking fixed gear – we’d love to get it back to him… It’s an Origin-8 frame. Weinmann dp18 rims, silver MKS track pedals. Another neighbor let us know his lock and helmet where on the ground around the corner from our place, where someone clearly ditched them.

The bike owner filed a police report and let the local bike shops know and hopes it will turn up.

A reader, Christina, reports that goods from two packages were stolen from her front yard yesterday. She lives on 46th Street between Locust and Spruce. Packaging and invoices were left behind.

Similar issues were reported last fall and in the spring. Christina notified police about this incident and encourages others who may have missing packages to do the same. She said that the companies the packages were sent from were very helpful and are replacing the items. A police report can be helpful should the carrier want to investigate the stolen property.

We are passing along information about an incident that happened to a neighbor near 48th and Hazel this week. Police advise being cautious when using your cell phone in public.

Alissa was walking down the street with her baby daughter in late afternoon and talking on her phone (an iPhone) when a man ran up to her and grabbed her phone. Alissa wasn’t able to give a detailed description because it happened too fast. Here’s what she writes:

“I just wanted to let everyone know that my iPhone was stolen from my hand (while I was talking on it) on Tuesday, 6/12 on the 4800 block of Hazel Ave at 4:45 PM. The person who took it ran up from behind me, snatched my phone from my hand and continued running very fast. I was carrying my 1 year old daughter in a carrier at the time, so I was quite upset about it. The guy didn’t hurt me or my daughter. He did knock my glasses off, but I think that was accidental since he grabbed the phone when it was up against my ear. We are OK and we filed a police report, but they don’t anticipate finding him or the phone. The police were very responsive and helpful though. They came about 2 minutes after calling 911. We tried to track the phone, but he immediately turned it off and hasn’t turned it on since. I just wanted to give everyone a warning… Please be very careful with having your cell phones out when you are walking around.”

Phone snatching is on the increase around the city.