Police are looking for a suspect caught on surveillance video stealing mail from a residential property in Los Altos.
The home surveillance video shows a white minivan pulling up next to a mailbox in Los Altos. The video then shows a man reaching out to the mailbox, grabbing the mail inside.
Police told NBC Bay Area that mail thieves are usually looking for checks, bank statements and other personal information which they can use to steal identities or forge signatures.
The owner of the stolen mail, Annette Ewanich, told NBC Bay Area that she was worried that the check she had mailed to register her dog would end up in the wrong hands.
“I was worried about them draining my account which had some money in it,” she said.
Her fears were justified. Two days later, as Ewanich was trying to close her account, she learned that someone was trying to cash the check for more than $791 at a bank in San Leandro. A theft alert prevented the check from getting cashed.
Los Altos police are urging the public to take another look at the suspect’s vehicle which has a distinctive grey stripe on the side.
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“Based on information from our investigation, we believe the person of interest may have committed mail theft in other parts of Santa Clara County, possibly the Bay Area,” said Det. Abraham Velasco of the Los Altos Police Department.
Since the theft, Ewanich has swapped out her old mailbox with a locked one.
She is hoping that by sharing her surveillance video with her online neighborhood group, police will be able to find the person who stole her mail.
