BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — In a quiet High Oaks neighborhood, a community mailbox meant for convenience has become a repeated target for thieves, leaving residents frustrated and concerned about the security of their mail.
“This mailbox is a community gang box, and it’s been robbed — hit several times,” said Don Stamp, a High Oaks resident. “The neighbors just got tired of it.”
Stamp said the mailbox has been broken into about half a dozen times so far, with thieves stealing sensitive personal and financial information.
“We’ve lost credit cards and financial statements and bank statements, stuff like that,” he said.
Concerned about the repeated thefts, Stamp decided to take matters into his own hands by installing a camera with spotlights near the mailbox in hopes of deterring future break-ins.
“I have a camera with spotlights. I’ll put it up in the tree and hopefully deter this,” Stamp said.
But even cameras and floodlights failed to stop what Stamp captured early one morning. Video shows a suspect arriving by car, exiting from the back seat, putting on a mask and opening the mailbox despite the light turning on.
“He didn’t care,” Stamp said. “He got out, opened up the box, took the articles and then left.”
Mail thefts like this are on the rise and are expected to increase as tax season approaches, according to U.S. Postal Inspector Matthew Northfleet.
“What we’ve seen for the past few years is that what mail thieves are targeting are financial instruments,” Northfleet said. “People steal mail because they want to make money. There’s really no other reason to steal somebody’s mail.”
While cameras can help document thefts, Northfleet said the most effective prevention is simple.
“We ask people to get their mail out of their mailbox as early as they possibly can,” he said.
Northfleet added that saving and submitting surveillance videos to postal inspectors can be helpful. In addition to mail theft, inspectors are also seeing an increase in postal carriers being robbed — not just for mail, but for their keys.
Stamp said he and his neighbors remain vigilant and hope that continued documentation will eventually stop the thefts.
“I don’t have any intention of confronting them or anything like that,” he said. “I just want it to stop.”
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