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Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Suspect in Rash of Oakdale Mail Thefts Arrested

Man is also suspected of stealing mail from Woodbury, Maplewood and Lake Elmo

Police have arrested a 20-year-old St. Paul man who investigators think was connected with rashes of mail theft in Oakdale and Woodbury in November, an investigator with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

The man is also suspected of stealing mail from Maplewood, St. Paul, Lake Elmo, Little Canada and Roseville, said Postal Inspector Troy Sabby.

“It’s been a very trying time for us here,” Sabby said. It’s one of the larger cases of mail theft he’s seen, he said.

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The arrestee is currently the only suspect in the thefts, he said.

St. Anthony police stopped the man at Larpenteur and Snelling avenues in Falcon Heights for a traffic violation, and then the mail was discovered, a St. Anthony investigator said.

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Investigators are currently going through the evidence found in the man’s car, which was impounded, Sabby said.

It appears he was looking for cash, anything of value and personal information in the mail, he said.

The postal inspection service recommends residents not put outgoing mail in their mailboxes, but rather drop it in a blue collection box or at a post office, or mail it from work, he said. It’s also important to get mail out of your mailbox as soon as possible, he said.

“These people tend to like to go drive around at night when it’s dark so people don’t see them,” he said.

Mail theft is a federal offense, he said, and it’s not yet clear when the man will be charged in connection with the thefts.

A group of four people was also arrested for mail theft Sunday, suspected of stealing mail from Woodbury and Oakdale, however they're not thought to be tied to the man or the big rash of thefts, the Pioneer Press reports.

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