Folsom Police advise community to be aware of rise in mail, identity crimes
Two suspects are facing felony charges related to mail theft after being arrested by the Folsom Police Department Friday.
With mail theft on the rise throughout the city over recent weeks, the Folsom Police Department’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) was led to the 1200 block of Creekside Drive Friday afternoon.
According to a report form the department, detectives executed a search warrant where Richard York, 52, of Folsom and Sarah Carrol, 37, of Placerville were both taken into custody on numerous felony identity theft, fraud and narcotic related charges.
During the service of the search warrant, SIU Detectives recovered stolen mail belonging to several dozen Folsom residents as well as neighboring cities and counties, according to the report.
Detectives also located evidence of fraudulent check manufacturing, identity theft documents, including social security cards, driver’s licenses and passports. United States Postal Service cluster mail box master keys and methamphetamines were also discovered at the location.
York and Carrol were both booked into the Sacramento County jail and face multiple felony charges. In the coming days and weeks, Folsom Police detectives will be following up with victims to return the recovered stolen mail and identity documents.
Mail theft a growing problem in Folsom
Folsom Police Officer Matt Stone is one of the many officers on the force that has been responding to reports of mail theft in various Folsom neighborhoods. While Friday’s arrest is a step in curtailing such activity, it’s a small step as there are multiple thieves committing such crimes every day, not only in Folsom but across multiple cities.
“There has been a lot of property crime like this occurring in the city lately, “said Stone. “When it comes to mail theft, the United States Post Office has its own investigative unit, so when a resident has missing mail, many of those reports go directing to the post office and not to the police department.
So, when we see our report numbers spike like they have been, it means it is significant because we don’t even know about half of them that have occurred.”
Much like in the case of Friday’s arrest, Stone explained that there are many instances when there are no visible signs that a mail box has opened by a thief. Rather than breaking open mail receptacles, criminals are using keys and their act goes undetected.
“Many of them have gotten their hands on master keys that either stole or bought from someone who stole them, this goes on in out there,” he said.
According to Stone, the crimes are occurring in various neighborhoods that have cluster mailboxes more so than those with individual boxes as a master key gives them access to multiple addresses at one time. The crime is committed quickly, leaving very little signs to the victim.
“They open the units, remove the mail and close it back up so the resident has no idea that the crime occurred. By the time they make the discovery and file a report then we are playing catch up to the criminals that have gotten a head start with their information.”
Stone explained that it’s not just the obvious items that thieves are looking for, such as checks and credit cards. “Those items are pretty much free game for them,” he said. “It’s many other things they look for with identifying information on it that they can use to commit further financial crimes, such as a hospital bill or even a utility bill.”
Take precautions to prevent becoming a victim of mail theft
While Folsom Police continue to patrol areas and give special attention to any suspicious activity near cluster mailboxes in the city, Stone said that community awareness can help curtail the crimes as well.
“This is a reminder that it is good to get out and know your neighbors and communicate with one another,” he said. “If everyone knows one another they are more likely to spot suspicious activity when they see something out of the ordinary. Maybe consider working together to install camaras that will pick up activity so we can get a description of a suspect.”
Stone shared three different actions that residents can take to help prevent becoming a victim of mail theft. Among one the most important tips, is making sure you collect your mail daily.
Other steps he recommends is signing up for the USPS Informed Delivery service which sends and email to the resident each day, showing them what mail is coming to them that day.
One of the final steps to make sure your mail is secure is to get a post office box and use it for all your sensitive bills and mail.
“The biggest thing to remember is to make sure you don’t get complacent about your mail,” he added. “If you know what is coming and you check it each day, that is one of the biggest ways to help prevent these crimes. It’s especially important this time of year with many tax documents in the mail but it’s important all year long.”
