Man Arrested for Stealing Mail From Boro Park Postal Relay Boxes, Firearm Recovered

By Matis Glenn

A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing bags of mail from several postal relay boxes – large, green containers of mail on city streets – and dumping them into a U-Haul van, where he had a gun, Shomrim tells Hamodia.

As mail theft – which is a federal offense – has been on the rise recently, Shomrim organized stake-outs at relay boxes that were known to have been targeted.

One such box was on 12th Avenue and 36th Street.

At around 11:45 a.m., a Shomrim member who had been stationed there spotted the suspect open a relay box and remove bags of mail. The suspect had first headed towards the U-Haul truck he had arrived in, but after realizing he was being watched, he left on foot. The Shomrim member followed him and immediately called police, who arrested the suspect minutes later, on 9th Avenue.

Police recovered not only a hefty cache of mail bags from the U-Haul, but also a loaded handgun.

A man was arrested last month for opening empty relay boxes in Kensington.

Relay boxes assist postal workers in replenishing their mail loads while on their rounds without making them have to repeatedly return to the post office.

“We’re seeing more of this now because people are getting tax returns,” Motty Braunner, Coordinator for Boro Park Shomrim told Hamodia.

“I can’t believe how brazen these criminals are, to not only steal mail but to do so in broad daylight, with lots of people around,” Nesanel, a local resident said. “Some people rely on mail to receive vital income, medications…it’s so heartless.”