VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) –An identity theft investigation in the South Valley has uncovered a crime even larger than first thought. Police say the suspect wasn’t just stealing the victim’s mail, but entire mail boxes.

Shannon Sorrels, 35, is in custody after a check fraud investigation led officers to uncover he’d stolen a number of community mailboxes around town.

In the video, you’ll see Visalia police and federal investigators taking away bags of stolen mail, after five community boxes were stolen around the city.

Sgt. Ozzie Dominguez with the Visalia Police Department said, “They also found several of these community mailboxes that had been reported missing throughout the city.”

The torn-apart mail boxes and hundreds of items of mail were found during a search warrant of Sorrells home. The six-foot-nine suspect was arrested after trying to cash several checks that weren’t his. Checks that apparently were taken from community mailboxes he stole. One of the checks was cashed at Lee’s Market off Race Avenue.

Officers say five of the large mailboxes have been stolen since April. Victims of the mail theft, like Clarissa Booth’s family, says they were shocked when they went to get their mail one day, only to find the community mailbox had been ripped off its bolts.

Stolen mailboxes in Visalia help uncover a crime even larger