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Knocking over mailboxes, according at least to cinema, seems to be a rite of passage for teens in small towns and rural areas. But a new "trend" in the L.A. area is the theft of large mailboxes--the ones belonging to the U.S. Post Office. Four of them, at 200 pounds apiece, have been swiped lately from post offices in Glendale, Burbank and Pacoima.
Now a federal investigation has been opened to identify the suspects who were able to the mailboxes as bolted into a concrete slab, and who may have personal identification information from the mail retrieved from inside.
The Glendale News-Press offers details of the latest box heist:
Most recently, a drive-up mail collection box was discovered missing July 2 at the Glendale post office at 6444 San Fernando Rd., [U.S. Postal Inspector Renee] Focht said. It’s not clear when the mailbox was stolen, but it was there when the post office closed the day before.
Focht noted that it is unclear if the four thefts in L.A. were related.The mailboxes will be replaced, but it's a bit trickier when it comes to the mail stored inside. Postal customers who may be affected were notified by fliers posted at the post offices, and are urged to contact creditors and other people and institutions with whom their communication has been affected by the theft.
The Post Office has put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect; hopefully that's one check that won't get stolen from the mail.
