(WSVN) - Stealing the mail is a crime, right? Well, one South Florida man wonders — because he has surveillance video of a man taking his mail day after day, and you know what happened? Nothing, which is why he called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
To say Byron Williams is busy is an understatement.
Byron Williams, mail theft on camera: “These are tall case grandfather clocks, cuckoo clocks and all sorts of other clocks.”
He repairs clocks to make money, he’s going to school to get his electrical engineering degree, and in his spare time, he dabbles with cameras.
Byron Williams: “And if you don’t see one thing in one camera, you look at another camera, and there it is.”
Then, one of Byron’s cameras captured a perfect shot.
Byron Williams: “I saw my mail was on the floor and mailbox is open, so I decided to check the records.”
Byron hit the play button.
Byron Williams: “I was sick, angry.”
As he watched the tape, he saw a man drive up to his mailbox.
Byron Williams: “And checked my mailbox and took the mail that he wanted, and left the garbage on the floor.”
The man did it at Byron’s house, then drove down the street as his passenger pulled mail from boxes on the other side of the street.
Byron Williams: “I called my neighbors and I said, ‘Hey, there is somebody checking your mailbox,’ and they had no knowledge of that.”
The man was doing it day after day in two different cars, almost treating it like his job.
Byron Williams: “He actually shows up right after the mail comes.”
To say the driver is bold is a major understatement.
Byron Williams: “I think his first priority is probably income tax checks, and whatever he gets is extra added bonus.”
To say he is not that bright is true also, because Byron’s cameras seem to make it easy to track him down.
Byron Williams: “You are going to see a tag number, a good description of the car, also going to see an image of the guy and his watch on his left hand.”
Byron called the police. They told him to call the postal service.
Byron Williams: “And I made two reports.”
But no one came to look at his videos. No one came to see the thief go through his mail day after day.
and then…
Byron Williams: “He took my credit card, charged it at a gas station, and also a $100 charge somewhere else.”
That was the final straw for Byron, who called Help Me Howard to find out what he has to do to stop this guy from doing this.
Byron Williams: “I’m frustrated, irate. I don’t know what to say or what to do.”
Well, Howard, you don’t have to be a detective to know stealing mail is a crime, but legally, what can Byron do?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Of course this is a crime. Stealing mail is a federal offense that can get you five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each theft. If Byron can’t get the postal service to investigate, he needs to be the squeaky wheel, and to do that, you need to call Help Me Howard and let us shine a light on your problem.”
We contacted the postal inspector. Someone then came out to collect Byron’s surveillance video of the mail theft. We were told they had identified the person stealing the mail, but no arrests have been made.
The postal inspector added that, “The investigation continues. Unfortunately, I cannot comment any further on an ongoing investigation.”
Byron Williams: “I want to see this guy apprehended.”
Byron got tired of waiting for the mail thief to get caught, so he installed a new locked mailbox you cannot reach inside, but he is happy the postal service is now looking into his problem … after he called Help Me Howard.
Byron Williams: “Before when I called in, I was not getting a phone call from the postal inspector, but since Help Me Howard, I had a postal inspector and a postal office call me and come and visit to retrieve the video.”
If the postal inspector knows who the thief is, why hasn’t be been arrested? One of the many questions we had, but the postal inspector says they can’t comment if he is ever arrested. We will let you know.
A problem stealing your peace of mind? Looking for a picture perfect solution? Clock in with us. Neither rain nor sleet nor too much sunshine will slow us down. It might get us wet, but we will deliver.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.