Holiday Safety Alert: Mail thieves target drive-up blue collection boxes

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Police are urging post office customers to exercise caution when using convenient drive-up blue collection boxes after suspects were caught stealing mail.

The mail thieves remain on the loose but Plano police officers recovered the car they were in, finding over 100 pieces of mail stolen from mailboxes in multiple cities, according to PPD.

Home surveillance video shared with NBC 5 shows the urgent search in the early morning hours of November 21.

Officers scoured alleyways and backyards near the U.S. Post Office at 3400 Coit Road searching for the two suspects.

Police say a postal inspector called police after seeing the suspects stealing mail from the blue collection boxes.

Officers arrived and as they tried to detain the suspects, the two people ran away on foot, according to police.

“Despite our efforts, we were not able to locate them,” said PPD’s spokeswoman Jennifer Chapman. “But we did locate in plain view a box full of mail.”

Sean Smith is the U.S. Postal Inspector for the Fort Worth Region, which includes Oklahoma.

“We’re aware of the investigation,” said Smith. “Due to it being an active investigation, I can’t go into further detail.”

The Postal Inspector’s Office, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, is working with local police on the investigation.

Smith spoke with NBC 5 about ongoing efforts to improve safety at post offices across the country and when it comes to blue collection boxes.

Efforts include installing 10,000 high-security boxes across the nation, including replacing blue boxes in problem locations and replacing 49,000 locks on the boxes.

“Which is going to make it more difficult for people who have keys to open those mailboxes,” said Smith.

One suspect has been identified and arrests are expected in the case, according to Chapman.

Mail theft, including stealing from blue collection boxes, is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in federal prison where inmates serve around 99% of the sentence, unlike state charges.

“To be charged with a federal felony, I wouldn’t take it lightly,” said Smith. “If someone is a victim, postal inspectors take that very seriously and we will pursue whoever is the criminal to bring them to justice.”

Customers have reported issues at the Coit post office previously, taking to online neighborhood groups to report overflowing collection boxes not picked up on time and mail thefts.

Smith’s position does not oversee how specific post offices are run.

A local spokesperson for USPS released a statement to NBC 5, stating:

The Plano Coit collection boxes are collected on a regular schedule daily at 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday and 5:00 p.m. Saturday.  Customers are reminded that they can securely and safely deposit items in the lobby drop box.

NBC 5, however, spent the 1 o’clock hour at the Plano post office in question and did not witness an employee collecting mail from the boxes, which were not overflowing.

Police and Smith encourage customers to drop off mail inside offices if possible with the holiday influx already underway.

Keep in mind some crooks have been known to stuff the collection boxes themselves, using things like newspapers.

“They’re making it full intentionally so that it does block the mail from going in,” said Chapman.

If you believe you have become a victim of mail theft, you’re urged to report it to the U.S. Postal Inspector Office online or by phone. https://www.uspis.gov/report