PLANTATION, Fla. — Residents in a Plantation neighborhood say they’ve been the victims of mail theft for several years.
Those residents of the Plantation Trace development, located along the 700 block of 132nd Avenue, are upset because they say the U.S. Postal Service isn’t doing anything about it.
Recently, under the cover of night, security cameras captured a car reversing into a parking space next to a row of mailboxes. Seconds later, a pair of hooded subjects emerged.
It’s clear the crooks were able to gain access to the mailbox quickly before getting away with mail belonging to the residents.
“It’s a little intrusive,” said resident Alex Ruane. “The first time we got something materialistic stolen but then we started hearing credit cards coming up in people’s names and IRS papers and things like that. It’s a little bit of a scary feeling.”
Ruane is one of many residents inside the development who have fallen victim to this crime, a cycle that’s been repeated five times over the past two years.
“What’s the resolution? There isn’t one, so we ended up spending HOA funds to put up cameras, license plate readers, and that’s how we caught the car the last time it happened,” said Ruane.
Carli Pierson is the attorney representing the Plantation Trace Homeowners Association.
“This is being perpetrated by an organized criminal enterprise,” said Pierson. “They move quickly and they clearly have access to some kind of a master key.”
Pierson has helped to guide property owners on how to properly report the thefts with police and the U.S. Postal Inspector, but every effort to curb the crime so far has hit a wall.
“We can’t change the locks on the mailboxes ourselves because that’s tampering, which is a federal offense, and the postal service won’t tell the community when they’re gonna change the locks, so they’re just sitting there Ike a sitting duck.,” said Pierson.
Residents are hoping the video of this latest heist will help bring the crooks to justice.
“I don’t wanna ship things to my house,” said Ruane. “If I’m gonna buy something, am I gonna send it somewhere else? Am I gonna send it to my husband’s business or my parents’ house, where I don’t have to worry about it getting stolen?”
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