WHITE PLAINS – Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. us urging members of congress who represent the county to pressure the US Postal Service to focus on ending a rash of mail thefts in the county.
In recent months, police in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Tarrytown, Harrison, Purchase, Bronxville, New Rochelle, North Castle and other communities have been investigating incidents where curbside mailboxes were broken into either forcibly or with a stolen key, curbside mailboxes were stolen outright, thieves used fishing techniques to take mail out of the mailboxes, and household rural-style mailboxes were emptied of their contents.
Scarpino said thieves have been taking checks or financial documents with personal identification that could be used for ID theft and financial fraud. He said in some cases, checks are “washed,” with original information removed and new information is added and cashed.
He said while postal inspectors are working in the area; however, he believes there are not enough. There are only six inspectors, a team leader and one analyst budgeted to oversee much of the Hudson Valley.
In his letter to House Members Nita Lowey and Elliot Engel and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Scarpino is urging them to “initiate a comprehensive program to aggressively address this problem.”
