Thief used a ‘master key’ to steal mail in Pierce County for weeks, police say

Gig Harbor Police have recovered a “master key” used to break into mailboxes for weeks across the city, the department posted on Facebook Wednesday.

“For the past several weeks, the Gig Harbor Police Department has received numerous reports of lost or stolen mail from community mailbox banks throughout the city,” the post said. “The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a notice to one homeowners’ association indicating their belief that a missing, counterfeit, or replicated USPS master key may be in circulation and used by criminal elements to commit mail theft and related crimes, including fraud and possession of stolen mail.”

On Tuesday, detectives located an official USPS master key, a large quantity of stolen mail from Gig Harbor addresses, a gun and “a significant quantity of narcotics” after acting on a warrant to search a suspect vehicle, the post said.

Police arrested a 34-year-old man and booked him into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of “multiple charges related to this case and others spanning multiple jurisdictions,” the post said.

“All mail evidence recovered in this case has been released to the United States Postal Inspection Service for auditing and formal owner notification,” the post continued.

The Lakewood Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service were part of the investigation.

Steve Vincent, a resident in the Wollochet Drive Northwest area and president of a homeowners’ association, reached out to The News Tribune via email on Tuesday to share his frustrations about recent mail thefts that have affected his neighborhood. He doesn’t believe any of his personal mail was stolen, but said neighbors lost items such as car tabs, medicines and a check, he wrote in a follow-up email Thursday.

“About a month ago I learned that a master key used by the post office to unlock and deliver mail to community boxes has been stolen and is being used by somebody to improperly access mailboxes and steal mail and parcels,” the resident, Steve Vincent, wrote Tuesday. “Residents in my neighborhood had noticed some sloppy mail delivery, but did not appreciate that the issue was as serious as it is until our regular mail carrier told us about the stolen master key. The mail carrier told us that the key worked on boxes across the city and urged us to collect our mail daily.”

The mail theft seemed to be widespread, Vincent wrote: “I literally speak to random people around the city on a weekly basis who are experiencing the same thing.”

The Gig Harbor Police Department’s Facebook post did not say how many residents investigators believe were affected. Asked for additional information about the investigation, Interim Police Chief Tray Federici told The News Tribune he would reach out to the detectives on the case.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include additional comments and clarifying details from local homeowners’ association president Steve Vincent.