Mail theft caught on video leaves Crown Heights community on edge

ByJanice Yu

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Janice Yu has the latest on a man who was found stealing mail from a postal box on a street corner in Brooklyn.

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn is feeling uneasy after a video showed a man stealing mail from a postal box on a street corner.

Police say on Monday the man got out of a white Alfa Romero near Kingston Avenue and Carroll Street and broke into a mailbox.

The man then loaded two bags full of mail into the backseat of his car, and got in on the passenger side before the car took off.

"It's such an awful crime, you know, because you're stealing people's mail," said resident Andrea Karshan, "And mail is so personal. Like I said, people get lost and their loved ones and people get very, very important stuff in the mail."

Surveillance video obtained by Eyewitness News showed the white Sedan pulling up to a mailbox just about 30 seconds after a United States Postal Service truck pulls away.

Some in the neighborhood wonder if the crooks have been following the postal worker.

"Shock and surprise," added Tehila. "These days in 2020, almost 2025, things like this shouldn't happen now."

This crime also comes just two months after a 56-year-old postal worker was robbed at gunpoint by two people a mile away from Monday's incident.
Police say the criminals who robbed that postal worker took off with her keys. They also noted it's not clear if the incidents are related.

"It makes me feel very unsafe," said Crown Heights' Anna Shaw.

The NYPD says the USPS has been notified of the crime and is investigating the matter.

The USPS in a statement said in part, "The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is aware of the video referenced, but cannot confirm, deny, or otherwise comment on the existence of ongoing investigations."