Mail Theft Reported in the Palisades

By TRILBY BERESFORD | Reporter

According to the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, an independent agency that investigates cases of fraud, waste and abuse, “a small number of employees abuse the public’s trust by delaying or stealing the mail.”

Suspected thievery recently surfaced in Pacific Palisades when postal customer Jim Lubinski received three greeting cards that were ripped open with the money or gift cards removed from each colored envelope.

He reported this incident to the local post office on La Cruz Drive after concluding that the theft must have occurred before delivery to his mailbox, which can only be opened with a key.

“I believe it is a postal worker in our vicinity because of the fact that all three cards have been from different parts of the country,” Lubinski hypothesized in an email to the Palisadian-Post.

“I figure, let’s expose it, because someone is getting away with hundreds or thousands of dollars,” he added during a follow-up phone call, acknowledging that many victims of mail tampering don’t report incidences because they “assume nothing will happen.”

The Post subsequently reached out to Post Master Yvonne Smith, who explained that processing machines occasionally have issues that result in damaged mail.

“Cases of mail theft and fraud are reported to the Postal Inspection Service,” she said, confirming that this particular incident has been reported. Smith went on to say that incidences of misdelivered and late mail are more common than mail theft.

Though she mentioned the existence of “mail fishing,” a criminal act referring to people who use tools, sometimes simply a piece of string, to “fish” mail out of collection boxes. “The removal of blue collection boxes in this area is under consideration for that reason,” Smith explained.

Smith clarified that there are 22 postal routes in Pacific Palisades, operated by 34 mail carriers. Smith was unable to recall a theft-related incident with a carrier during her tenure.

Aside from this case, numerous reports of tampered, lost and stolen mail in Pacific Palisades have surfaced through community discussions on social media.

In correspondence with the Post, one community member recalled sending checks in the mail that were properly labeled and addressed, but never received on the other end. (So far, there is no evidence that the checks have been cashed.)

After reporting this incident to the post office supervisor, who “flatly denied they could possibly be at fault,” the customer was informed that since her mail was not certified with return receipt requested, there was little that could be done.

Suspicions of criminal activity must be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455. Non-emergencies can be reported to the Los Angeles Police Department on 877-ASK-LAPD, or Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore.

Mail theft is a federal offence punishable by U.S. Code Section 1708.