WATTS : 4 Arrested for Stealing Welfare Checks, U.S. Mail
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies discovered a large cache of welfare checks and other mail on Friday after stopping four men driving away from a U.S. postal truck in Watts.
The men were arrested near 96th Street and Zamora Avenue and booked on suspicion of federal mail theft.
The men did not get around to robbing the truck in Watts, said Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Wilson.
“They sped away when the carrier appeared, but we found the mail and welfare checks in their car from a previous break-in of another truck in Long Beach,” Wilson said. “I’m sure we saved scores of people from losing their rent and food money.”
Postal officials said 70 carriers have been robbed and mail has been stolen from 139 postal trucks in Southern California this year.
The suspects were identified as, Alejandro Pozuelos, 20; Salvador Castillo, 22; Ramiro Garibal, 23, and Antonio Ocampo, 52, all of Los Angeles.
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