“KPD urges people to not use the drop boxes, and to walk their outgoing mail into the post office to hand to an employee,” Kettering police officer Tyler Johnson said.
Kettering police officers went to the post office at 1490 Forrer Blvd. on May 25 for a theft complaint, according to police. Johnson said a postal worker found the exterior mail drop boxes open when they arrived to work. Exactly what was stolen from the mailbox is still being looked into.
“KPD is currently working with the postal inspector on this investigation, and it is ongoing,” Johnson said.
A postal service key that unlocks “all Dayton-area mailboxes” was stolen, according to a May 14 Dayton police incident report. Following the key theft, post office drop boxes in Beavercreek, Dayton, Kettering and Washington Twp. were all hit, according to police. Johnson said it is unclear right now how many keys are out there and what the post offices will do to secure their mailboxes.
Questions about how many keys exist and what is being done to either collect them or render them useless weren’t immediately answered by the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office on Monday.
Four people were arrested May 19 in the 3200 block of Gracemore Avenue on preliminary theft and receiving stolen property charges, Kettering Police Chief Chip Protsman said. The four have not been charged, according to online court records.
Four people were charged in March in connection to a string of check thefts from mailboxes. Michael E. George of Cincinnati, Brittany L. Kinder and Daniel L. Yates, both of Newport, Ky., face charges and the cases against them are pending, according to online court records. Meanwhile, records show a motion for treatment in lieu of conviction was granted last week for Craig A. Ross of Dayton.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office previously reported that it is investigating numerous incidents since February of checks stolen from outdoor mailboxes. There have been 34 reports filed, mostly coming from the Washington Twp. post office.
Capt. Mike Brem also recommended that people drop the mail inside post offices and not use the mailboxes outside.
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