Homeowners in a northwest Harris County neighborhood said they’re left frustrated after a thief broke into their mailboxes over the weekend.
Suzanne Bathe is one of the dozens of homeowners living in the Crossroads Park subdivision that had her mail stolen from a mailbox pedestal Saturday.
She said her mail from Thursday and Friday were taken.
“I got a thing from the post office where I get an email every day that tells me what’s in my mailbox.” Bathe said.
Photos captured from the pool’s surveillance camera near the mailbox panel caught a blurry look at the suspected mail thief just before 11 a.m. Saturday morning, according to Bathe.
“There were 2 people here at the pool who watched somebody pull up and thought they were getting their mail,’” she said. “But apparently they broke in and took mail from several different sections of the mailboxes, ours included.”
Bathe said a similar incident happened a year ago.
A USPS postal worker delivering mail Monday morning could be overheard telling Bathe that when he arrived Saturday to deliver the mail, the panel doors were wide open, despite him locking them.
“When I leave from here I make sure they’re locked. The next day I come, I see it open,” the mailman told Bathe.
Bathe said she’s reached out to the United States Postal Service but was not satisfied with the outcome.
“You talk to the post office and you go round and round with them,” she said. “You can’t really get an answer, so you don’t get an answer.”
KPRC 2 reached out to the postal inspector for the USPS who sent the following statement:
“While the U.S. Mail remains one of the most secure means of transmitting information, it also contains items that are attractive to thieves. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) takes every report of mail theft seriously.
At this time, the USPIS has not received a report matching these details. However, we will begin to look into this incident. Postal Inspectors rely on the reports by customers to identify any items taken from the mail. If a customer believes they are a victim of mail theft, they should report it to the local police as well as the Postal Inspection Service by calling our hotline at 877-876-2455 or visiting our website at www.uspis.gov. Additionally, if a customer is a witness to mail theft or has information to share, including videos, they can provide those tips by calling our hotline or visiting our website.
The longer your mail stays in any mailbox, the more susceptible it is to theft. Postal Inspectors recommend checking your mailbox every day and removing your mail as promptly as possible. You can deposit your outgoing mail into the mail slot inside the lobby of your local post office. You can also place it into an official blue USPS collection box BEFORE the last collection time, which is displayed on the box. Mail theft most often occurs in the overnight hours when there are no people around to witness the theft.
Mail theft is a state and a federal crime punishable by fines, jail, and prison.”