Manteca, CA – Theft of mail in Manteca’s “community mail boxes” or cluster boxes mounted on residential sidewalks is picking up.
The Postal Service has deployed postal inspectors in Manteca and nearby communities that have been targeted as well in a bid to catch the culprits.
Manteca Postmaster Beverley Leymaster on Thursday noted between October and November there were 18 thefts reported. Since December the pace of thefts appears to be picking up prompting a stepped up coordinated effort between Manteca Police and postal inspectors.
The postmaster said Postal Service maintenance staff has been working hard to keep up with the demand to repair the damaged boxes so they can become a safe place to contain the nail. Workmen first go to the scene and install a metal plate on the box to keep it from being used until it can be repaired or replaced.
Leymaster noted that she called in all her carriers into the office on Thursday morning to discuss the problem. She asked them not to answer any questions they might be asked on the street by the public because the information being passed around by citizens is developing into word-of mouth-stories – most often wrong. She said she wants the public to know the actual facts to properly warn them of the situation.
She said that Stockton and Modesto offices have been hit hard by thieves recently. Those thieves now apparently are moving into Manteca to steal mail. When the community boxes are broken open, the new incoming mail stays in the post office where it can be picked up by the addressee. Read more