‘Stressed’ Amazon driver abandons 80 packages in Mass. Woods during holiday shipping rush

Dozens of Amazon packages were discovered abandoned in the woods in a Massachusetts town just days before Christmas, but it wasn’t the Grinch stealing presents — it was a delivery driver who said stress caused them to dump the lot.

A Lakeville police sergeant discovered the horde of packages during a routine patrol around 2 a.m. Sunday.

The sergeant noted that items were “unattended” in a wooded area near 63 Bedford Street. When he went on to investigate, he found “three large boxes full of Amazon packages scattered several feet into the woods,” Lakeville police said in a news release.

The bags were brought back to the police station – with a total of 80 packages.

Police had received no reports of the packages being stolen or misplaced, so they contacted a local Amazon distribution center in Middleborough and returned them.

On Monday, an Amazon driver visited the Lakeville Police Department and said they left those packages on the side of the road around 7 p.m. Saturday “because they were stressed.”

The driver said they planned to report the incident to their manager. Police have not released the name of the driver.

Lakeville police said they are not seeking any criminal charges.

“I am proud of the way our Lakeville Police officers handled and investigated this matter. At this time, we are not seeking criminal charges and consider this a human resources matter for Amazon,” said Chief Matthew Perkins.