Mail theft reported at Sellwood-Westmoreland Post Office

The Bee, Mar 5, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

For several years, property crime has been rising in the area, attributed mostly to methamphetamine users stealing things they can make a little money with in order to feed their addiction. Of special note have been numerous car break-ins; officers advise never to leave anything of any potential value, including CD’s, in sight within a vehicle to avoid such burglaries. The new auto GPS units are reported to be a new, hot target.

Other areas of the metro have been plagued by mail theft, usually from home mailboxes, by those seeking checks or identity-theft information. Now, a theft from an official mailbox, potentially a federal offense, has been reported at the Sellwood Post Office on S.E. Bybee at 16th.

Postal officials report that sometime between the afternoon of Saturday, February 9th, and Monday morning, February 11th, at 6 am, one of the collection boxes on the curb in front of the Post Office branch was broken into, and all of the mail inside was taken.

The postal morning clerk arriving early Monday found the door to the collection box open, and the orange hamper empty on the sidewalk. There is no way to know how much mail might have been deposited during that period of time.

Residents of the area who might have gone to that branch to mail important papers between that Saturday evening and Monday morning, such as a credit card or mortgage payment, or even a valentine card to someone special, are advised that it may have been stolen, and may not have arrived at its destination.

Those who think they may have mailed something important in a curbside box at the Sellwood Post Office that weekend should take the necessary steps to ensure that they don’t get charged a late fee on a bill that they were mailing then, that a check made out to a business or person was not stolen and cashed by the thief, or that unauthorized charges were not made on a credit card for which they had mailed a payment.

Postal officials advise that mailing bills and important papers by placing them at their household mailbox for the mail carrier to take could result in theft of the outgoing mail, and the most secure way to mail anything is to enter the Post Office during office hours and use the inside mail slots, or to hand the mail to a postal counter person for mailing.

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