photo credit Portland police

Around the beginning of October, Special Agents from the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General (USPS-OIG) contacted the Police Bureau’s Detective Coordination Team and reported that an employee was suspected of stealing new phones out of their boxes at the Northeast Portland Processing and Distribution Center.

After an investigation, 23-year-old Rico Manuel Alvarez was identified as the suspect.

On October 16, 2019, Mr. Alvarez was stopped as he left the mail facility. During the contact, nineteen stolen phones were found with a value of over $13,000.

Ultimately, Mr. Alvarez was transported and lodged into the Multnomah County Detention Center on one count of aggravated theft in the first degree and nineteen counts of mail theft.