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Neighbors in Portland neighborhood concerned by young thieves

"I really did not think someone would be bold enough to walk straight up on the porch," Caitlan Corbin said while sitting on the same porch.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Just after 7 p.m. Sunday in the Portland neighborhood, a Ring camera caught another theft on a front porch.

“I really did not think someone would be bold enough to walk straight up on the porch,” Caitlan Corbin said, while sitting on the same porch. “He looked dead up at the camera and still did it.”

This time, it wasn’t a regular porch pirate.

“The boy is every bit of 10-years-old if you look at the video,” Corbin said.

Shain Wilson added, “It kind of threw me off a bit. You don't expect someone so young already into stealing things off people's porches."

The couple has lived on Rowan Street with their own children for about two years. But in the last two months, they've lost a bike and a wagon to young thieves.

"Guess we might have learned our lesson this time," Wilson joked.

They tried to teach a lesson, too - by tracking down those teens and their parents.

"They didn't care," Corbin said. "They let their kids run around and do what they want."

Where does a community go from there?

"201 North 25th Street," Jennie Jean Davidson said, standing inside Neighborhood House. "Stop by anytime."

Not even two blocks away from where the thefts take place, Neighborhood House provides a space for children and families to build community.

"We know families are struggling," Davidson said. "We are not the answer for everything, but we are here, we can do a lot, and we can connect you to a lot."

As she spoke with WHAS11 News, the sound of a parent-teacher conference spilled out of one room, merging with children's laughter and rap beats pouring down from the second floor.

"We're not just a traditional 'give you a basketball and try to find your sports talent.' [organization]," Norman Martin said, walking up the stairs. "We have music therapy. We have art therapy. We're trying to find hidden talent."

Neighborhood House helps all ages from 6-weeks-old to seniors in life, building a better community and making neighbors who help neighbors.

In the end, it was neighbors who helped Wilson and Corbin.

"A lady ended up recognizing the kid," Corbin said. "And they actually went and got the wagon for us. So the wagon is over at her house, we just got to go pick it up."

In a city where a child will steal from you in broad daylight, a neighbor will go out of their way to help bring back what's yours.

► Contact reporter Tom Lally at TLally@whas11.com or on Facebook or Twitter.

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