SEATTLE — The United States Postal Inspection Service is investigating after three people were caught on camera taking mail and packages from an office building in Capitol Hill.
In the security footage, one of the men appears to have a universal postal key that gave him access to the building and mail room.
It also allowed him to open up the mailboxes themselves.
Russell Normann owns the building and said the first incident happened on Dec. 26, 2022.
“He sticks that key in there, turns that ... My front door opens, then he comes back here and uses his key several more times to get into the mail room,” Normann said. “It was just kind of sickening.”
The video shows the man and another man taking mail from the boxes and making off with packages too.
About a month later, on Jan. 14, the man with the key returned, but this time with a woman. Again, they took mail and packages.
“They not only went here, but they got in the elevator, they got upstairs, they checked over here. You know they were scouting everything, but mainly it was mail, just pulling out handfuls of mail left and right,” he said.
Normann reported the thefts to the Seattle Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
“Nothing’s happened. Nobody’s contacted me, and nobody’s called me, and I’m just like, what do I do?” he said.
KIRO 7 discovered that USPIS is investigating and has identified potential suspects.
“It is very concerning for us, which is why we do take these seriously, which is why it’s been assigned to an inspector,” said John Wiegard of the USPIS.
Wiegard said cases like this are rare, and typically, people are after money.
“They’re not after just the card that’s coming from your grandma or from an in-law or something like that. They’re after the card that’s a birthday card that has a check in it; they’re after some sort of financial gain,” Wiegard said.
If you believe your mail has been stolen, report it to USPIS and Seattle Police.