The Wichita Police Department (WPD) arrested a man accused of stealing packages from porches.

Around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, WPD Patrol South officers working a special assignment looking for porch package thefts. They saw a man riding a bike in the area of Broadway and Lincoln carrying an Epson Printer box with a UPS shipping label on it.

The officers stopped Buffum and found out the package had been taken from a porch in the 1400 block of West McCormick.

The officers arrested 35-year-old Cory Buffum of Wichita on a charge of theft and an outstanding warrant.

The stolen item was returned to the owner, who also reported having a RING video of the theft.

The investigation is ongoing and will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office.

As package thefts increase during this time of year, police offer these tips: Here are some tips you can do to help keep your property safe:

• Have packages delivered to your home only during hours that you are there

• If you are not home or out of town, have packages delivered to a trusted neighbor or have that neighbor pick up the package for you;

• Have packages delivered to a store you’ve ordered from, or you can have that package delivered to the carrier facility for pick-up;

• Check with your employer and have packages delivered to your place of work during the day;

• Consider purchasing surveillance cameras and motion sensor lights; and

If you are a victim of a theft, call 911 to file a police report, and if you have surveillance video, you can provide that to WPD.