As parts of the Inland Empire experience a rash of thefts from community mailboxes, U.S. postal authorities caution customers to empty the receptacles every day.

The mailboxes, also known as cluster boxes, are cemented into the ground in many shopping centers and newer housing developments to allow letter carries to deposit mail for a dozen or more customers in only one location.

The boxes, however, are also convenient for criminals who are hunting for credit cards, checks and personal information that can be sold. Stacia Crane, a spokeswoman for the Postal Inspection Service, said thieves often trade their bounty for drugs.

Postal authorities say the customer is responsible for the purchase, installation and maintenance of cluster boxes.

Bryan MacMurtrie is division manager for Mailboxes R Us, which sells and installs the cluster boxes. He said his company, based in Yorba Linda, receives about three calls per day to replace burgled cluster boxes

via Postal Service warns about cluster-box mail thefts