PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Mailbox after mailbox in a Pembroke Pines neighborhood has been targeted by a brazen thief.
A man captured in several videos, driving what appears to be a U-Haul rental truck, is seen going from house to house.
“It seemed very routine, very businesslike,” said longtime resident Peter Gonzalez. “They don’t care if you have a camera. They don’t care if you have a Ring.”
Gonzalez’s surveillance system is one of several that caught the man in the act.
In the video, the man can be seen getting out of the truck, first going to check for unlocked cars before casually checking the mailbox on his way back out.
The man then gets back in the truck and continues going house to house, stopping at mailboxes along the way.
“It’s a privacy issue, you’re talking about identity theft,” said longtime resident Melvin J. Smith. “You’re talking about statements coming from credit card companies. A lot of people aren’t online.”
Turns out residents across western Pembroke Pines found to open mailboxes on the 16th of October, and in many cases they were missing mail.
When several homes were hit all around Chapel Trail, neighbors began mobilizing, sharing videos online of a very similar truck in the early hours of the morning.
It’s why Smith now has a lock on his mailbox. He says he saw this coming as the area kept growing.
Stealing mail is a federal crime but it’s a problem that has happened time and again across Broward County.
The postal service was contacted and is getting involved, working alongside the Pembroke Pines Police Department.
Anyone who thinks they recognize the man, or has information about the crimes, is urged to contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.