Man Faces Burglary, Forgery Charges in Stolen Mail Case

A Huntington Beach man was charged with burglary Monday after police found more than 50 pieces of stolen mail and chemicals used to alter checks in his pickup truck, police said.

William R. Shelton, 24, was arrested last week after arousing a bank manager’s suspicions by trying to cash a check that was written in two colors of ink. He is being held at the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana in lieu of $50,000 bail, said Huntington Beach Det. Patrick Ellis.

Shelton tried to cash a check Thursday at Bank of America in the 5800 block of Edinger Avenue, Ellis said.

A manager became suspicious because it looked as if someone had written over the name of the recipient and the amount. Additionally, the original check was written in blue ink, and the new information was in black.

The manager called the woman who had written the check, and she said it had been addressed to AT&T;, not Shelton, Ellis said.

Ellis said Shelton became nervous and left, but the bank manager called police and wrote down the license plate number of the white pickup truck Shelton was driving.

Police staked out the owner’s house, but Shelton did not return that day.

On Friday, a patrolman noticed the truck outside the house, and arrested him.

Inside the truck, police said they found more than 50 pieces of stolen mail and a chemical used to alter checks.

Police also found a pipe used to smoke an opium-based substance, Ellis said.

Shelton was charged Monday with forgery, commercial burglary, receiving stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia and committing a crime while on bail.

The investigation is ongoing, but police suspect there are at least 30 victims in Huntington Beach and surrounding cities.

“It’s the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Huntington Beach police said mail theft has been increasing in recent years, and warned residents and businesses to secure incoming mail as soon as possible.

Outgoing letters should be mailed at a postal facility rather than left in an unmonitored mailbox, police said.

Anyone with information about mail theft is asked to call the Huntington Beach Police Department at (714) 960-8843.