More than a month after the arrest of a man on federal mail theft charges, police are reporting a new allegation of mail stolen from the Park Ridge Post Office.
In an Oct. 26 Facebook post, the Park Ridge Police Department announced that mail was reported stolen from an interior mailbox at the post office, located at 333 Busse Highway.
Police did not say when the alleged theft occurred or when it was reported to police. Messages left with Police Department Executive Officer Tom Gadomski were not answered Tuesday.
In addition to the theft report, police “received information of a recent incident where a person was seen tampering with an exterior mailbox at the same post office,” the police department’s Facebook post said.
The person did not gain access to the mailbox’s contents, the department said.
Previous reports of mail theft were not shared publicly by Park Ridge police. The Park Ridge Herald-Advocate reported last week that for more than year, police had been taking reports of checks stolen from drive-up mailboxes outside the post office, with at least 24 such reports filed between June 20, 2020 and Sept. 23, 2021.
On Sept. 15, a Dolton man was arrested after a GPS device, placed in a Park Ridge Post Office mailbox container by postal inspectors, was tracked to his home and stolen mail was recovered, police said.
Police are asking residents to report any suspicious activity at the post office or any mailbox by calling 911. Residents are also being asked to “consider using alternative financial transaction methods, including making payments online when possible,” the department’s Facebook post said.
Anyone who believes they have had mail stolen from a mailbox or the post office is asked to report the incident to the Park Ridge Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office. The postal inspector’s office is the primary investigating agency for any mail thefts.
Reports of stolen mail should be made by calling the Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455.
