COUNTYWIDE : Thieves Steal Letters From Postal Trucks

U.S. Postal Service inspectors are investigating a series of thefts from postal delivery trucks in Orange County in which gangs steal hundreds of letters, hoping to collect Treasury Department checks, credit cards, driver’s licenses and immigration green cards, authorities said Tuesday.

In the most recent case, three trucks in Santa Ana and one in Anaheim were burglarized March 18. Thieves stole as many as 600 letters from each vehicle, according to the Postal Service.

“We’ve had a resurgence of this in the past six months,” said Donald Obritsch, a spokesman for the postal inspectors’ regional office in Pasadena. “There’s a long history of this in the L.A. area. Unfortunately, it’s picking up (in Orange County). We don’t like to see this, but we are doing the best that we can.”

Obritsch said that three other break-ins were reported in Santa Ana in January, February and March. Overall, about 50 break-ins have been reported in Los Angeles and Orange counties since the beginning of the year, he said.

Postal officials believe that the culprits are professional criminal gangs who stake out the vehicles until the carrier is away and break in through windows, Obritsch said.

“They’re actually seeking them out and then breaking in,” he said. “It is when the carrier is away from his vehicle and delivering his mail.”

Other gang members, Obritsch said, are responsible for sifting through the mail, cashing checks or using credit cards.

Although postal inspectors are tracking down leads, no arrests have been made for the Orange County mail thefts this year. Downey police on Monday arrested two men suspected of breaking into a postal truck and stealing about 800 pieces of mail, Obritsch said, but it is doubtful any connection can be made to the Orange County thefts.

“It’s been a widespread problem,” he said. “It hasn’t been just one gang.”

Residents are asked to be on the lookout for suspicious activity near postal trucks, he said.

“They (thieves) like Mondays,” Obritsch said. “That’s the day that the (tax) refund checks are usually delivered.”

When a truck is burglarized, postal officials normally issue a form letter to all residents in a neighborhood informing them of the break-in and asking them to cancel and re-order checks, credit cards or identification they may have been expecting in the mail.

Obritsch also said postal officials are urging customers to use direct-deposit programs when possible. Otherwise, it can take the U.S. Treasury Department several months to have the new checks drawn and delivered.