Tiffin Holiday Porch Pirates: Man sentenced to community control for over $4K in theft

TIFFIN, OH — A man who pleaded guilty to theft in connection to a string of “porch piracy” across the Tiffin area, where shipped packages were taken from porches, was sentenced to community control Tuesday.

Christopher P. Chaffee, 36, of Tiffin, plead guilty to theft, a fifth-degree felony, in February.

Chaffee was sentenced Tuesday in Seneca County Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Shuff’s courtroom. Chaffee’s sentence includes a three-year term of community control, 120 days in jail (w/ credit for 100 already served), and a drug abuse rehabilitation program at CROSSWAEH including twice-monthly drug and alcohol testing.

Chaffee apologized in the courtroom and said that he has ruined the rest of his girlfriend’s life. Chaffee also said that he had spent more than 12 years in prison already throughout his life, and regretted his decisions to continue doing drugs as it has negatively impacted his health.

During the week of November 26th, 2018 the Tiffin Police Department received more than 25 complaints of shipped packages being taking from the porches of local residences.

Officers began investigating these complaints and with the help of the community, officers were able to identify a suspect and the vehicle being used in these thefts.

During the evening hours of November 29th, 2018, Sgt. DeMonte located the suspect vehicle driving in the downtown area. The vehicle was stopped and two suspects identified in the case: