Mailbox Bandits

[MickintheHam]

Woke up Saturday morning to go for my run/walk. As I got to the street I noticed my mailbox door was open. I figured it was some type of prank as I had closed it securely the afternoon before. Last night I checked out the neighborhood facebook page. It was lit up with comments about the mailbox bandits. Some one had cleaned out the mailboxes in the entire neighborhood!

A jogger at 4:30 am had seen a white Lexus in the neighborhood driving slowly without its lights. He was able to take a picture and get a partial of the Florida plate.

This morning after my jog I opened facebook and it was filled with information with a police arrest in Douglasville, Ga. Three guys from Miami driving a White Lexus were found in possession of a $16,000 check belonging to one of my neighbors. They had targeted our neighborhood and one in Mtn. Brook, Al. They had over $100k in checks and a car ful of mail.

Apparently, this isn’t rare. If you have concerns, you can sign up for informed delivery at USPS. There they keep a scanned copy of all the mail you should have received for the last week.

[kingcat]

Wow.
A big kudos to that early morning jogger as well as the police.

[MickintheHam]

Wow.
A big kudos to that early morning jogger as well as the police.

We have a great community. Last winter 3 joggers were out before dawn, when they came past one of their houses. There was a guy “trunk Shopping” out of the jogger’s car. They chased the guy, caught him, and tackled him to the ground. They held him spreadeagle on the ground until the police arrived. A police search found the accomplice a couple of blocks away casing another car. Police treated the second thug much nicer than the neighbors treated his friend. The guys gave their police statements and resumed their jog.

[kingcat]

We have a great community. Last winter 3 joggers were out before dawn, when they came past one of their houses. There was a guy “trunk Shopping” out of the jogger’s car. They chased the guy, caught him, and tackled him to the ground. They held him spreadeagle on the ground until the police arrived. A police search found the accomplice a couple of blocks away casing another car. Police treated the second thug much nicer than the neighbors treated his friend. The guys gave their police statements and resumed their jog.

What I'd call a "bad ass, good neighborhood"

[Darrell KSR]

I. Was. Out. Of. Town!

[suncat05]

Mail theft from residential mail boxes has been a huge problem in south Florida for years.
Which leads to huge problems with identity theft.
These crooks target middle to high income neighborhoods where most people still actually work for a living.
I met one of my best friends because of postal theft from mail boxes in the neighborhood I lived in when I still lived in Okeechobee. He was a Postal Inspector with the USPS at the time and was actually surveilling my neighborhood with the Okeechobee Sheriff's Office when they caught and arrested 3 Cubans from Miami who were stealing mail from residential mail boxes.
After that happened, I went to the Post Office and rented a secured mailbox from the USPS, which I have had since then, and will continue to maintain.
As I said, this is a huge problem here in south Florida, and has been growing in other nearby areas of this region as well.
The bigger problem is that the US Department of Justice doesn't criminally prosecute these people in as aggressive manner as they should. It just is not a priority. The same with these people that are stealing from our Social Security accounts due to the theft of our Social Security numbers. These kinds of crimes just are not a priority for the USDOJ, even though it hurts us as individuals, citizens, and consumers.
The USDOJ is much more interested in playing politics than it is in protecting U.S. citizens from criminals and the criminal enterprises that are preying o us.

[MickintheHam]

Mail theft from residential mail boxes has been a huge problem in south Florida for years.
Which leads to huge problems with identity theft.
These crooks target middle to high income neighborhoods where most people still actually work for a living.
I met one of my best friends because of postal theft from mail boxes in the neighborhood I lived in when I still lived in Okeechobee. He was a Postal Inspector with the USPS at the time and was actually surveilling my neighborhood with the Okeechobee Sheriff's Office when they caught and arrested 3 Cubans from Miami who were stealing mail from residential mail boxes.
After that happened, I went to the Post Office and rented a secured mailbox from the USPS, which I have had since then, and will continue to maintain.
As I said, this is a huge problem here in south Florida, and has been growing in other nearby areas of this region as well.
The bigger problem is that the US Department of Justice doesn't criminally prosecute these people in as aggressive manner as they should. It just is not a priority. The same with these people that are stealing from our Social Security accounts due to the theft of our Social Security numbers. These kinds of crimes just are not a priority for the USDOJ, even though it hurts us as individuals, citizens, and consumers.
The USDOJ is much more interested in playing politics than it is in protecting U.S. citizens from criminals and the criminal enterprises that are preying o us.

Interesting stuff Suncat. Today one of my neighbors was contacted by a US Postal inspector who wanted to know why he signed up for Informed Delivery. The neighbor told him. The Inspector then said there were over 40 in our neighborhood who had signed up in 3 days and they were investigating.

In other gang related bandit news, our county Sheriff is reporting that gangs from out of state are sweeping through the county with car breakins.

note to Darrell: the gangs have been sweeping down Cahaba Valley and Valleydale Roads. Heardmont and Veterans Parks are target areas.

[suncat05]

I tend to believe that this stuff is a result of organized crime coming out of Miami. It seems like every time I hear about this stuff the culprits are from Miami.
No matter, if you see somebody you don't know in your neighborhood, and they're interested in all the residential mailboxes, get as good of a physical description of the people, their vehicle and the tag number (especially if it is a Florida tag), if possible, and which street they are on and what direction they are traveling in and call your local law enforcement agencies and let them deal with them.
A lot of these criminals out of south Florida can be very dangerous. Please trust me on this. Let the police deal with them.

[Darrell KSR]

Interesting stuff Suncat. Today one of my neighbors was contacted by a US Postal inspector who wanted to know why he signed up for Informed Delivery. The neighbor told him. The Inspector then said there were over 40 in our neighborhood who had signed up in 3 days and they were investigating.

In other gang related bandit news, our county Sheriff is reporting that gangs from out of state are sweeping through the county with car breakins.

note to Darrell: the gangs have been sweeping down Cahaba Valley and Valleydale Roads. Heardmont and Veterans Parks are target areas.

In my area, I have heard about car break-ins, but I'm not sure I've heard about mailbox Bandits yet. Probably just a matter of time. Or I could be out of the loop. I appreciate the heads-up.

Of course, I rented a car from Hertz because I had about 1,200 miles of driving in 3 days and, naturally, it has Florida license tags on it. So I was coming in and out of my neighborhood with a suspicious red car and Florida tags. Wasn't home much, though.

[Darrell KSR]

Oh, Mick, I meant to ask you if you had heard about the break-ins at Veteran's Park in the middle of the day. Apparently it's a thing. I don't know how they are getting away with breaking windows with so many people around in broad daylight, and it hasn't stopped me from parking there when I run, but it is concerning.

[MickintheHam]

Oh, Mick, I meant to ask you if you had heard about the break-ins at Veteran's Park in the middle of the day. Apparently it's a thing. I don't know how they are getting away with breaking windows with so many people around in broad daylight, and it hasn't stopped me from parking there when I run, but it is concerning.

The crime along Cahaba Valley and Valleydale is not mailbox activity, but burglary, mostly car breakins. But it is out of town gamgs who are committing the crimes.

[MickintheHam]

It is now believed that all of these mailbox robberies and car breakins are committed by “felony lane gangs”. They are brazen as they move in large groups. Consequently they are not afraid to operate in parking lots or areas where there may be a lot of activity in broad daylight. They move in from out of town and leave after several days of activity.

They are extremely dangerous.

[Darrell KSR]

Super scary.

[kingcat]

[Darrell KSR]

Going to run at Veterans Park in a minute. Wish me luck against the Felony Lane Gang!

[CitizenBBN]

It is now believed that all of these mailbox robberies and car breakins are committed by “felony lane gangs”. They are brazen as they move in large groups. Consequently they are not afraid to operate in parking lots or areas where there may be a lot of activity in broad daylight. They move in from out of town and leave after several days of activity.

They are extremely dangerous.

That's why it's important to carry.

[MickintheHam]

That's why it's important to carry.

[dan_bgblue]

What the heck is that hanging behind his left elbow? A point and shoot SAM?