West Hollywood residents in the Tri-West area have taken to the NextDoor app to voice their frustrations about an alleged thief raiding their U.S. Postal Service mailboxes.
Neighbors claim the thief has a master key to the boxes which was sold to him by a postal worker, and that he has been hitting Huntley and Westbourne streets, among other areas.
UPDATE: The City on Thursday issued an official comment regarding these thefts.
The City of West Hollywood and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department West Hollywood Station are responding to concerns from community members about theft of mail from residential mailboxes in the City of West Hollywood.
The Sheriff’s Station is currently reviewing reports of complaints of stolen mail in multiunit dwellings in the City of West Hollywood. According to reports filed with the Sheriff’s Station, when thefts do occur, they most frequently take place in apartment complexes and condominium buildings.
The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station has issued the following tips:
• Keep front doors closed — Make sure that entrances to buildings are closed and locked so that only residents can access mailbox areas.
• Check mail daily — Do not allow mail to sit in boxes for extended periods of time and make sure packages are picked up promptly.
• Install video surveillance — Request that homeowners associations and property management companies install video cameras in mailbox areas.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which supports and protects the nation’s mail system, has additional tips on how to protect your mail from thieves:
• To send mail, use the letter slots inside your local Post Office for your mail, or hand mail to a letter carrier.
• If you do not receive a check or other valuable mail you are expecting, contact the issuing agency immediately.
• If you change your address, immediately notify the Post Office.
• Do not send cash in the mail.
• Notify the Post Office when you will be out of town, so it can hold your mail until you return.
For additional tips regarding Identity Theft Prevention, please visit the City of West Hollywood’s website page with crime and safety tips at www.weho.org/services/public-safety/crime-prevention-and-personal-safety-tips/internet-safety-identity-theft-prevention.
For more information, please call the City of West Hollywood’s Public Safety Department at (323) 848-6414. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
If you suspect mail theft or suspicious activity, report it immediately to the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station by calling (310) 855-8850 and alert your letter carrier or local Post Office, as well.
Beverly Schnur • Melrose Place
Our condo building on Croft at Willoughby was hit last week during the night with a master key that opened all the mailboxes. Reported to Police and Post Office.
Forest Zukerman • WeHo Heights
We’re here on Horn and Shoreham and the same has been happing to us. If anyone has mail for Shoreham dr please message me.
Ginger McKinley • WeHo MidCity-South
The police won’t do anything. Stealing mail is a federal offense. You might want to sign up for Fedex Delivery Manager and UPS My Choice which will send you notifications whenever a package with your address is on its way to you. Then, you can track delivery and even ask to have the package held at the UPS/FedEx store to be picked up by you later if you’re not going to be home. Both services are free.
Pierce Reynolds • WeHo North-Santa Monica
Add my building to the list. Palm Ave & Harratt St was hit about a month ago. Thief busted the (master mailbox) lock, prying it open.
Karyna Shackelford • WeHo Tri-West
Just spoke to the mail lady on our block. She said a mail worker (who got fired) SOLD the master key. The guy stealing our mail does it from 4am and 5am apparently.(edited)
West Hollywood residents in the Tri-West area took to the NextDoor app to voice their frustrations about an alleged thief raiding their U.S. Postal Service mailboxes.
Neighbors claim the thief has a master key to the boxes which was sold to him by a postal worker, and that he has been hitting Huntley and Westbourne streets, among other areas.
More information to follow as this story develops:
Beverly Schnur • Melrose Place
Our condo building on Croft at Willoughby was hit last week during the night with a master key that opened all the mailboxes. Reported to Police and Post Office.
Forest Zukerman • WeHo Heights
We’re here on Horn and Shoreham and the same has been happing to us. If anyone has mail for Shoreham dr please message me.
Ginger McKinley • WeHo MidCity-South
The police won’t do anything. Stealing mail is a federal offense. You might want to sign up for Fedex Delivery Manager and UPS My Choice which will send you notifications whenever a package with your address is on its way to you. Then, you can track delivery and even ask to have the package held at the UPS/FedEx store to be picked up by you later if you’re not going to be home. Both services are free.
Pierce Reynolds • WeHo North-Santa Monica
Add my building to the list. Palm Ave & Harratt St was hit about a month ago. Thief busted the (master mailbox) lock, prying it open.
Karyna Shackelford • WeHo Tri-West
Just spoke to the mail lady on our block. She said a mail worker (who got fired) SOLD the master key. The guy stealing our mail does it from 4am and 5am apparently.(edited)
In 2017 I lived in Cynthia and someone stole my mail and walked up to Bank of America and cashed a bunch of checks. I had to solve my own crime. I walked into the sheriff station with all my investigated research and said here, go find the guy. They did; they said I should come work for them. I said, absolutely not you guys are mean.
It’s cute the postal service is giving tips on how to not be a victim of crime when it’s their own employees selling the masters to begin with.
The last picture looks and is dressed just like the criminal renter in our unit 8 and the small blurred blond looks just like my camera of Fed 8, 2021 when I saw him on camera break just into my mailbox and steal all the contance. In my video surveillance it looks clear he brought his 10 year old kid with him (I don’t know how old the kid is, but around 10 years by my GUESS) IT SEEMS HE PLANNED IT SO AFTER JE STOLE ALL THE MAIL FROM MY MAILBOX, HE SHOVED IT ALL INTO A VERY STRUCTURED… Read more »
Part 2 – I was cut off I suspect they assume if I am taking the effort to call in and report, it must be something I can hear From my home and annoyed at noise. One incident was so scary and the female officer was Getting annoyed that I didn’t get the not hidden at all message that if I call in they won’t do anything With fake disgusted laugh at me she was sharp to say “WHY ARE YOU CALLING HERE” I repeated, I was now at home, with my dog safe and sound. I couldn’t See or… Read more »
I live by the traffic circle behind trader Joe’s and between SMB & Hollaway. February 5th, 2021 TWO AMAZON packages (one was mine, I don’t know who the other package was for. Like all the crime I’ve experienced in who, the perpetrator in was an Owner or Renter From one units owner, either directly themselves, or in this referenced, a visitor/guest of a very repetitively creepy (Not saying “criminal” since not only was there not a trial, a police report would not be taken, as is always the case when I phone LA County Sheriff’s Office directly about anything (usually… Read more »
mail Theft – July 23, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Evu2lZUv-E
Why hasn’t someone contacted the Postal Inspector? That gets the ball rolling and leads to the FBI.
While the Sheriff in their recommendations, somewhat obliquely mentions the U.S. Postal Service and their interests, they themselves should have initiated contact with the Postal Inspector in the essence of timely action. Have personal experience with them on two occasions, one involving an undercover task with the Treasury Department. They took immediate action to catch a perpetrator.
USPS doesn’t let an individual contact the postal inspectors directly anymore. You have to go through the post office itself (which may be the problem). And these days those people are very hard to get a hold of. My large building on the eastside didn’t get mail for 10 business days back in November. Mail resumed, and USPS claims they delivered the backmail. But I never got the mail I should have got during those days.
This has been a huge problem for years. Nothing has changed. This isn’t news to City Hall. The postal service has been going downhill for decades and doesn’t even try to investigate the problem. Any other issue and the city would form a committee or hire a company at great expense to tackle the issue.
We’re in the targeted neighborhood and been hit, too. We’re considering adding a combination lock with stainless steel padlock hasp to our mailbox. Volunteer residents would have the combo. It would be locked up at end of day and removed in the morning. No one is delivering mail at 3am. And as usual, the weho sheriffs can’t do much.
That is smart. I advised that below. Another option is to put that master key in a lockbox, and change the combo every two weeks, communicating with the local post office. Those boxes are easy to find and not expensive. Used by real estate agents, all the time. If I lived in one of these buildings, I would surely be signing up for a PO Box, or at one of those mail centers, right now. I live nearby, in a duplex. Thankfully, I own the duplex, and put a huge mailbox with a drop slot on it, a long time… Read more »
I think it is time to throw technology at this problem. Create electronic locks on the door, or lockboxes with master keys in them. Passwords could be changed, on the regular. Some of these devices could include cameras, so we’d get a face shot of whoever is entering the code, which would be helpful, if the perpetrator is not wearing a mask. We might even be able to narrow down who gives the code out from post offices, if only a select few have the code, and it changes on a regular basis.
Public Safety issue big red flag
Hopefully Mayor Horvath, Councilmember Shyne or Erickson (he/him) will get some social workers out on the street between 1am and 6am to get this thief off the streets.
Yeah! Get those social workers out there to solve this problem!
Horvath, Shyne and Erickson can actually become the social workers they envision by donning neon protective gear if necessary and taking to the streets in Operation: See Your Council Member in Action rather than giving and receiving faux commendations. Time to use their ingenuity to be the change or solution they profess to advocate.
Public Service is SERVICE, not self gratification.