Suspects In Mail Theft Arrested In Issaquah
Three people suspected in a string of mail thefts in northwest Spokane are in custody in Western Washington.
A 43-year-old man, a 33-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were arrested Dec. 6 in Issaquah, a suburb east of Seattle, when a King County police officer saw them taking mail out of mail boxes.
Police refused to release the names.
When police later searched the car, they found mail addressed to several Spokane residents and a handgun. Police were not sure where in Spokane the mail was from, said King County sheriff’s spokesman Jerrell Wills.
Police are still investigating. No charges have been filed.
At least 50 homes in the neighborhood around Rifle Club Road had mail and packages stolen from mail boxes between Nov. 10 and Nov. 15. Thieves took the stolen mail to a small city park on Rifle Club Road, leaving a trail of letters in ditches. Some letters were burned in the park.
About 400 pieces of mail - some of them partially burned - were recovered and returned to residents. There was no way of knowing how many pieces could be missing, according to Jim Bordenet, a spokesman for the postal inspector’s office.
Bordenet wouldn’t release any information about the investigation.
The Rosewood branch post office at 6325 N. Monroe, which delivers mail to the neighborhood, sent letters to people in the 99208 zip code whose mail had been found in the park.
Other residents were not told of the thefts.
Instead, most of the neighborhood last week received a newsletter from the branch requesting responses to a customer satisfaction survey. One resident described it as a “grip-and-grin” mailing.
Resident Steve Negretti said he lost a credit card being renewed, and his neighbors received a partially mangled package. “I thought I was exempt, but everyone got hit,” he said. Another woman said she lost a birthday present. Others said they hadn’t gotten any mail on several days, which is unusual for them.
Post office branch manager Rafael Ramirez said he believes enough has been done to alert residents of problems by sending letters to those affected by the thefts.
He said an advisory council of residents meets the third Wednesday of every month at Perkins restaurant on North Division at 7:30 a.m. and the issue of mail safety would be addressed there.
Woman robbed at mall
A woman was robbed last week as she left the Montgomery Ward store at Franklin Park Mall.
As she was walking toward the parking lot, a young black man, about 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds, walked up behind her and yanked the purse from the woman’s arm.
The force broke the purse strap and tore the woman’s skin. She didn’t give her age, just saying she was in her 60s.
The man was videotaped by surveillance cameras. The woman identified the man from the tapes.
The robbery was one of three in or near Franklin Park Mall last week.
SCOPE coming to Deer Park
The Sheriff’s Department is studying plans to add a communityoriented policing station in the Deer Park Yoke’s Pac n’ Save.
The plan has support of Deer Park officials and residents. Volunteer Rob Nebergall is coordinating plans.
The sheriff’s department already has seven SCOPE (Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort) substations. The stations are modeled after the successful COPS stations in the city.
For information on the proposed station, call Nebergall at 276-6374.
, DataTimes