‘Stressed’ Amazon driver leaves 80 parcels in forest before Christmas, police say

On By Littum

A “stressed out” Amazon driver admitted ditches around 80 undelivered parcels in the forest a few days before Christmas, according to local police in Massachusetts.

Matthew Perkins, the police chief in the small southeastern town of Lakeville, said around 2 a.m. Sunday that a sergeant was on routine patrol when “he noticed things unattended in a wooded area.”

After examining the items, the officer found three boxes full of Amazon packages spread out in the forest. The location was close to an Amazon fulfillment center.

Treasury: 80 Amazon packages left dumped in the forest

Three boxes full of undelivered packages from Amazon.com were discovered in the woods in Middleboro early Sunday morning, Dec. 22, 2024, according to Lakeville police.

Three boxes full of undelivered packages from Amazon.com were discovered in the woods in Middleboro early Sunday morning, Dec. 22, 2024, according to Lakeville police.

Officers loaded the boxes onto a pickup truck and returned them to the Lakeville Police Department, where they inventoried about 80 packages.

On Monday, an Amazon driver, who was not identified by police, visited police headquarters and reported dumping the packages around 8 p.m. 19 Saturday “because they were stressed,” police said.

Police said they are not seeking any criminal charges and the driver planned to report the incident to their manager.

“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,” Perkins said.

Law enforcement officials said they had not received any reports of stolen or missing packages. Police took the items to the nearby replenishment center.

Elsewhere in the US, Amazon employees are on strike over holiday work

The incident comes after The International Brotherhood of Teamsters launched what it billed as the largest strike against Amazon in US history on Thursday.

The strikes are being held at Amazon warehouses in New York City, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Skokie, Illinois. The Teamsters union is looking for Amazon to recognize a contract that includes higher wages, better benefits and safer working conditions.

The union noted in a release that Amazon workers without collective bargaining agreements also have the right to honor the strike and withhold their labor.

Starring: Greta Cross and Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Amazon driver leaves 80 boxes in forest before Christmas