Dallas neighborhoods targeted by plant thieves

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Residents in the Oak Cliff and Kessler Park neighborhoods of Dallas say they are dealing with plant thieves.

People are driving by during the day and snagging plants off their porches. Multiple residents say they’ve caught the plant kidnappers on camera.

Police say they have detectives in the Southwest Division assigned to work the cases. Residents are hopeful that clear surveillance video they have turned over to police will help them track down who did this.

It was the middle of the day a couple weeks ago when Chelsea Fillip went outside to see that her hanging plant was gone. She thought maybe someone had moved it until she checked her security camera.

“Sure enough, I get the footage of this vehicle pulling up and take my plant right off the hook,” Fillip said.

The woman seen on video got right back in what looks like a grey BMW and drove off.

“I was like what are they going to do with my plant? Are they gonna take it to their house?” Fillip wondered.

At first, she didn't report the incident to police, but she then went online and found other people reported it happened to them, too.

“I wasn't going to do anything because I was like I feel dumb reporting my plant first of all,” she said. “When I posted it on the crime watch page, they said file a report because we need her to get caught obviously.”

Just this Sunday, a man who lives in the area said it happened to him. In surveillance video, a man can be seen getting out of what looks like the same BMW. The man walked out of frame. Moments later, he is holding a plant without the pot. He threw it in the car and drove off.

Dallas police say they are looking into a few incidents in the area but did not provide a specific number.

While residents acknowledge it might just be a plant, it's the principal of people taking what is theirs right off their doorstep.

“We're all just trying to make our homes look nicer or have packages delivered,” Fillip said. “So we all just want to live in a safe neighborhood.”

Other residents in the area said they’ve recently had plants and other times taken, but not all of them were captured on surveillance.

A police spokesperson could not share much info like a license plate number or suspect descriptions. But some of the victims say they’ve been told by officers working the area that police are making progress.