Amazon delivery driver walks into North Carolina police standoff to drop off package
RALEIGH, N.C (WNCN) — When Amazon guarantees delivery, it means it – especially in North Carolina.
A TikTok video posted earlier this month shows an Amazon driver walking by multiple parked police cars, with lights flashing, toward a Raleigh house to deliver a package. The officers appear to be in a standoff at or near the recipient’s house.
Officers appear visibly surprised upon noticing the man, wearing an Amazon vest, attempting to deliver the package. Once police realize what the man was doing, they approach him, ask him to stop, and take the package from him, the video shows.
The video then shows the Amazon driver walking back to his car – but not before he takes a picture, to prove it was delivered.
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The video shows more than half a dozen Raleigh police cars visible at the standoff scene when the drop-off was made.
Raleigh Police confirmed to Nexstar’s WNCN that, on March 18, when the video was captured, officers were arresting a man with an active warrant out of Texas.
Police had established a perimeter around the home, which can be seen in the video, “due to safety concerns.” Authorities were negotiating with the suspect, identified as 30-year-old David Lonnell Sanders, when the Amazon delivery driver arrived.
“Amazon hard at work,” the person who recorded the video is heard saying. “In the midst of a standoff, he’s going to deliver his package.”
Police said Sanders was eventually arrested following de-escalation efforts and charged with false imprisonment and assault on a female.
Amazon did not immediately respond to WNCN’s request for comment regarding the delivery. For its Flex delivery drivers, who use their own vehicles to deliver packages, Amazon offers guidance on what to do with those that can’t be delivered, describing them simply as “packages you tried to deliver, but were unable to.”
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It’s unclear if the delivery driver in the video, which has amassed more than 7 million views, was a Flex driver.
Amazon has been criticized for its working conditions in recent years. In 2021, the company faced backlash after a driver claimed she was threatened with termination if she abandoned her route amid tornado warnings near Edwardsville, Illinois.
After learning about the alleged incident, Amazon said it would “use this incident to improve our policies.”
Michael Bartiromo contributed to this report.
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