PALMER TWP, Pa. — Bandits have struck again outside the Palmer branch of the Easton Post Office.
They pried open the back of one of the drive-up mail collection boxes and stole several pieces of mail last week, township police said.
It’s the latest round of thefts at the collection bins, which are along South Greenwood Avenue.
“It’s been an ongoing thing,” said township police Capt. Vasa Faasuamalie. “There have been several people (victimized). We’ve had an open investigation into that for a while. And it’s not just our area. It’s Allentown, Bethlehem. It’s a much bigger group of idiots that are committing this.”
The problems go back at least four years. Last year township police put out a warning urging folks not to deposit outgoing mail in the drop boxes because numerous personal and business checks had been stolen.
This year, one of the two collection bins had been sealed off for months. The other that had remained available is the one that was broken into last week, Faasuamalie said.
“It’s not just our area. It’s Allentown, Bethlehem. It’s a much bigger group of idiots that are committing this.”Capt. Vasa Faasuamalie, Palmer Township Police Department
The thieves have deployed different methods to access the mail.
“They’ve tried to fish it out of there through the opening, which they’ve been successful with,” Faasuamalie said, “and with the most recent one, they’ve pried it open. We’ve been trying to get them (the post office) to put something there to let people know not to come in.”
The Easton postmaster couldn’t be reached for comment. Representatives of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which investigates postal crimes, didn’t immediately return a message.
On Friday, yellow caution tape was wrapped around both mailboxes and a sign at the post office parking lot entrance at 650 S. Greenwood Ave. told folks to bring their outgoing mail inside.
Township police say that’s the best way to assure that the mail you drop off isn’t tampered with.
“Take it inside,” Faasuamalie said. “Especially those mailboxes, regarding the location, it’s kind of covered,” he said. “It’s not out in the wide open. Taking your mail inside would be the safest way (to avoid being victimized). It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is now.”
Township police said previously that the post office doesn’t have a surveillance camera on the boxes.
“We’ve tried several things to try to catch them,” Faasuamalie said of the thieves. “We’ve put our equipment there and been working with them behind the scenes, but we’ve been unlucky with it.”
Faasuamalie estimated there have been dozens of incidents of stolen mail – “More than a handful,” he said – and probably more because victims may not always report it.
“A lot of times these checks are cashed in New York or outside of the area,” he said. “People may not report it unless their bank requires them to.”
