Postal Service offers reward for burglar

GLENDALE — U.S. Postal investigators on Tuesday issued a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a man who burglarized the La Crescenta branch Sunday night on Foothill Boulevard.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service released video surveillance photographs of the man, whom they described as black, 6 feet tall, and wearing jeans, boots, a plaid shirt, purple cap and possibly a mask.

Postal investigators and Glendale police officers arrived at the post office at 3300 Foothill Blvd. about 8 p.m. Sunday when an alarm sounded off and they noticed the break-in, Postal Inspector Renee Focht said. No one was working.

“This would be considered brazen,” Focht said. “It does not happen frequently.”

The thief did not steal cash, but swiped mail stored during the weekend at the post office, she said.

“We know that mail was stolen,” Focht said. “We don’t know the volume of mail that was stolen.”

Investigators are asking customers who dropped off mail from 5 p.m. Saturday to 8 p.m. Sunday to submit a mail theft report to the agency or their local post office.

The post office was damaged during the burglary, but she declined to comment on how much damage.

Breaking into a post office is a federal crime, which can be punishable by fines and up to five years in prison, she said. Thieves can also face additional identity and mail theft charges.

Glendale police are assisting with the forensic investigation, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Anyone with information on the burglary is asked to call the postal service at (877) 876-2455, select option 2 and refer to Case No. 1861003.