MISSION BEND, Texas – Opening up her mailbox, Laishanna Bledsoe-Spivey is relieved to see envelopes inside. Lately, mail has been a gamble, since the Greens at Brentwood apartments have been hit by mail thieves three different times in the past month.
The apartments are near Mission Bend and considered affordable housing. Apartment management said thieves stole clothing and iPhones from neighbors’ mailboxes. Bledsoe-Spivey said a thief activated a credit card that was stolen from a man’s mailbox.
“His credit card was run up almost $900 at a Shell station. They stole from a hardworking man that came home after working many long hours to find that he had been robbed,” Bledsoe-Spivey said.
KPRC 2 obtained surveillance from the apartments showing the last three thefts. It starts on July 30.
The video shows two men walk up to the mailboxes. One man works the lock and manages to unlock multiple mailboxes. They both gather dozens of pieces of mail before walking away.
On Aug 3., surveillance showed a woman fidgeting with the lock on the mailbox. Another woman was seen by her side. Both of them are accused of taking off with neighbors’ mail.
Three weeks later on Aug. 26, a woman who looks strikingly similar to the woman in the video of the second attack shows up and breaks into the mailboxes by opening the locks. A different woman is with her this time. Both of them gather mail before taking off in their getaway car.
“In six minutes, she was able to empty 80 boxes, mailboxes,” Bledsoe-Spivey said.
Bledsoe-Spivey was spared during this rash of theft, but she said this same time last year, thieves stole her packages from the same mailbox with her children’s back-to-school clothes.
“They have no regard for law enforcement. They have no regard for people just trying to make it. A lot of these people, their children rely on free lunch. This is not a community that can handle loss,” she said.
Apartment managers said the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is providing extra patrols to the area.
KPRC 2 reached out to the sheriff’s office to see if the thefts are connected or if any suspects have been identified. A spokesperson said they are looking into KPRC 2′s request.
Those with any information are asked to contact the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office at 281-341-4665.