A big blue mailbox was ripped out and stolen from an Oakland neighborhood early Monday morning.
The mailbox stood in the corner of Chabot Road in the Rockridge neighborhood
"That is odd," said Gayle Peterson, who teaches at a school across the street. "Someone may have really wanted the mailbox. That took a lot of effort, it’s not just like a smash and grab, right?"
Peterson says the mailbox was used all the time, she saw people at it almost every day.
Investigators say someone ripped the collection box right out of the concrete, leaving some people in the upscale part of Oakland feeling vulnerable.
"It's just that flabbergasting to me that I don’t know how to explain it, or even why that would happen," said Enrique Martinez who has been an Oakland resident for 25 years.
Postal inspector Jeff Fitch said that he hopes people in the neighborhood come forward if they notice some of their personal information is used, claiming that may help track the thieves.
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"If there are transactions that you did not make. Contact us back!" he said. "That is information like what department store, what convenience store, what gas station, the information may have been used it and that provides us with things like video and other evidence."
Anyone with information is asked to call 877-876-2455.
