Seattle Mail Bandits Continue to Envelop Area With Thefts

SEATTLE —  Thieves are finding new ways to steal mail now that the Postal Service has installed high-security mailboxes--they’re smashing the boxes open with cars and sledgehammers.

Six of Seattle’s new theft-resistant blue street-side mailboxes fell victim to the thieves over the weekend.

Four of the boxes were ripped from their concrete pads and hauled away. Two others were “beaten to a pulp” with crowbars or sledgehammers but withstood efforts to break into them, Postal Service Inspector Jim Bordenet said.

Postal workers began working last month on a $2-million program to replace 3,500 blue mailboxes stretching from Everett to Tacoma. Thieves had obtained a master key to them, and reports of lost credit cards and checks had skyrocketed. One man recently convicted of possessing checks he stole from Seattle mailboxes told authorities he was part of a ring of 30 bandits who used the keys to conduct nightly box raids.

The new boxes are made of heavy-gauge metal and have a wider lip and added pins on the door to stymie any attempts to pry open the doors.