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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — One by one, in broad daylight last week, a woman wearing an orange shirt picked off mail and packages from multiple streets in South Tampa.
“You would think people would be decent,” said one neighbor. “Like, not go onto your property, to your house and steal stuff.”
But neighbors tell 8 On Your Side this kind of crime has been happening for years. Multiple neighbors said their mail was stolen, and their security cameras got it all on video. The woman in orange is seen leaning out of the passenger window of a gray truck, putting some mail inside the mailbox that neighbors say is just junk mail, then taking other mail out. That same day, she’s seen putting some mail on a porch, then taking other packages.
“At first I was like, ‘Why are people stealing mail?’” the neighbor said. “I don’t know why anybody would even want mail.”
Other people are asking themselves the same question. While it is an affluent neighborhood, mailboxes are out on the street, so it’s easier to come and go for thieves.
“This is something that’s happened in our community for many years,” said another resident. “It’s happened about three times over the last three weeks. So it seems like the frequency has been increasing.”
In a statement to 8 On Your Side, the U.S. Postal Service said:
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The U.S. Postal Service delivers mail to more than 163 million addresses every day. Unfortunately, there are items in the mail attractive to thieves, such as checks, money orders, credit cards, and merchandise. Postal Inspectors across the country are at work to protect the mail but cannot do the work alone.
Kristi Parkerson, U.S. Postal Inspector
The Postal Service suggested checking your mailbox every day, asking a neighbor to pick up mail and tracking your shipments.
“It’s sad you have to live that way in your own neighborhood,” said a neighbor. “But it’s just something I think everyone’s kind of gotten to used to because there’s not much we can do about it.”
With the thefts now happening in daylight, neighbors worry about escalation.
“You feel a little bit [of] violation of your privacy in a moment like that,” a resident explained. “You feel vulnerable. And you just don’t know, ultimately, where does it end?”
Many of the neighbors said they are going to buy and install locked mailboxes and lockboxes for packages.
Mail theft is a federal crime, so if it happens to you, you can file a report with U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
