NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida business owner is speaking out and sharing his concerns about the thief who was caught on surveillance video using a key to steal mail from post boxes at an office building.
The security footage captured the subject opening post boxes at Plaza 68 in Northwest Miami-Dade and taking several items, just after midnight on Tuesday.
Warren Gerstein, the president of S.K.I. Investigations, said his business were among those targeted.
“I mean, the bigger problem here is that obviously, the postal service is compromised, because they have a postal key. How does that happen?” he said.
Gerstein said his business has been hit more than once, with missing mail dating back to Dec. 14.
Among the stolen items, Gerstein said, were envelopes containing several large checks.
“There’s no telling how many checks have been taken, altered and cashed,” he said. “Some of them, they just changed the payee but left the amount the same. Some of them, they changed the payee and the amount.”
Gerstein said the banks have caught and canceled some of the checks, but several have slipped through the cracks.
“It’s well over $100,000 that these people have gotten away with,” he said.
The mailboxes are mounted in the back area of the building, located along Northwest 68th Avenue, near 182nd Street.
According to an expert, a car seen in the video backing into a parking spot appears to be a 2008 Toyota Avalon.
The footage shows a person getting out of the back seat, heading for the mailboxes, unlocking them with a key and taking envelopes. The subject is seen wearing all black, glasses and a light-colored face mask.
“It wasn’t like they emptied the whole thing out, so it seems somewhat strategic,” said Gerstein. “They were in and out of that box in about, I don’t know, 20 seconds. Clearly, this is calculated and smart. I mean, they’re smart, they’re succeeding.”
Gerstein has filed a report with the U.S. Postal Service. 7News sent the video to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, who is now investigating.
“With the evidence that we have, it’s clearly a postal issue, and it’s a postal issue at my building,” said Gerstein.
Until this issue is resolved and their boxes are secured, Gerstein said S.K.I. Investigations plans to save the stamps and find another way to send and receive payments.
“We’re not going to be mailing checks anymore, we’re not going to use our mail,” he said. “When a thing like this happens, it just completely changes the entire way you operate.”
Officials urge anyone with information about this theft to call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455.
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