Thanks to an alert resident, patrol officers located and arrested a very busy mail thief, recovering well over 350 pieces of stolen mail. Shortly before 4:00 am this morning, officers responded to a potential mail theft near SE 60th St and Forest Dr. SE. The caller reported the driver of a white muscle car with a loud muffler had attempted to steal her mail.
A patrol officer responded and combed the area, and located a vehicle matching the description that had made an illegal turn and didn’t have license plates. The officer conducted a traffic stop, and as he identified the driver, he noticed what appeared to be a pile of mail under a coat.
In addition to the traffic infraction, the driver was driving with a suspended license and was placed under arrest. The 25-year-old Renton resident gave the officer permission to search the car, and the officer recovered 368 pieces of mail throughout the vehicle. The stolen mail had addresses from Bellevue, Renton, Seattle and Federal Way. Officers also recovered a Washington driver’s license belonging to someone else and stolen credit cards.
The suspect was booked into jail on investigation of mail theft and driving with a suspended license.
The mail will be forwarded to the United States Postal Inspection Service and return to the rightful owners. The investigation is ongoing.
We sincerely appreciate our residents working with us and alerting us to these crimes. This is the second mail theft bust in two nights, thanks to residents reporting suspicious activity.
Case # 21-21742
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