Tuesday April 7, 2020 ~ LANGFORD
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
In the wee hours of Monday morning April 6, a community mailbox was the target of a thief who was quickly apprehended.
West Shore RCMP say they received a report of a mail box theft in progress at about 12:20 am on Monday April 6, involving the community mailbox located at 791 Station Ave in central Langford.
“A citizen called in advising they witnessed a man break into the mailboxes and run away on foot. The witness was able to provide police with a good description of the suspect,” says Cst Nancy Saggar, Media Relations Officer, West Shore RCMP.
Saggar says that West Shore RCMP frontline officers were on scene within minutes and tracked down the suspect. The suspect was identified as a 30-year-old man who was also breaching court ordered curfew conditions.
The suspect was arrested for a variety of offences including, mischief under $5000, theft from mail, resisting arrest, and failure to comply with conditions.
Officers recovered the stolen mail and it will be returned to Canada Post.
“We want to say thank you to the good citizen who called police right away,” said Cst. Nancy Saggar, Media Relations Officer West Shore RCMP.
Community mailboxes allow for Canada Post to deliver mail to multiple addresses in one neighbourhood, without having to go door to door. People can also ‘post’ their stamped envelopes through a slot on the community mailbox.
All customer mailboxes are exposed and open during the process of a mail worker putting mail into the various compartments. Both mail that is posted and mail that is sitting delivered in compartments is potentially vulnerable to theft.