TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) -- Tempe police have a special program to catch Grinches trying to ruin Christmas, and on Tuesday, they announced they nabbed a package thief.

As part of the department's Operation Secret Santa, a homeowner on the south side of the city volunteered to allow officers to use their house and front porch for bait packages to catch thieves stealing possible presents.

Police put out a fake package with a tracker inside to entice the crooks.

On Dec. 4, around 1 a.m., Ring video showed a man coming up to the porch and swiping the bait package.

The search was on for Tempe police officers.

"As soon as I got that hit, I wanted to get there as soon as I could," Tempe Police Officer Cody Conklin said in a department-produced video.

They tracked the package to an apartment complex near Baseline Road and Hardy Drive on Sunday.

"When I found the location where it was pinging, thankfully there's only one person there," Conklin said.

That person was 28-year-old Roman Lopez, police said.

Conklin said he heard the faint sound from the tracking device, so he searched Lopez's backpack.

"While searching the backpack, that's when I was able to find the stolen merchandise with the device still attached to it," he said.

Lopez was arrested and booked into jail on one count of possession of stolen property.

"It was very rewarding and we were able to get a package thief off the s treets," Conklin said.

Operation Secret Santa started on Nov. 18 and will run through the end of December.