The United States Postal Service’s Creekside Road office in Valencia resumed regular service after reports of stolen mail throughout November in certain areas within the 91350 and 91390 ZIP codes.
According to a resident of Rainbow Glen Estates in Valencia, earlier in the month there were two incidents where a suspect opened the collection box units servicing residents of the homeowner’s association and stole their mail. Due to the incidents, residents were asked to come to the Creekside Road postal office to pick up their mail for a few weeks.
In addition, another Valencia resident wrote a warning message about the mail thefts on Nextdoor, an application that allows people to post information or messages regarding their communities.
“A fair warning for this in the 91390 and 91350 area codes — I’ve been told by the Valencia post office they had a master key stolen to the neighborhood mailboxes and have been having reports of stolen and missing packages,” reads the message on Nextdoor, which was posted on Friday.
The resident continued to lament as two of their packages were stolen on Nov. 11 from the neighborhood mailbox — losing $300 in Christmas gifts.
According to reports, the mailboxes were not damaged or forcefully opened in any way, leading officials to believe someone had used a key to gain access.
Kristina Uppal, a USPS representative, confirmed there had been several incidents in the 91350 and 91390 ZIP code areas in Valencia, including the Rainbow Glen Estates, where mail was stolen.
On Monday, Uppal wrote in an email that the collection box units servicing those locations were updated with new locks as a precautionary measure and normal service was to resume Tuesday in the affected areas.
“Majority of these boxes were updated on Friday and regular mail delivery did resume immediately after updating, only one street was updated today [Monday],” Uppal wrote in the email.
According to Uppal, after postal officials looked into the situation, all master keys were accounted for and the post office servicing the affected area has a proprietary key system, meaning no one key opens every box.
The Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the USPS, was also notified to investigate how the mail was stolen, she added.
“If any customer reported mail theft to an authority outside of the Inspection Service, they may also report their concern to the Inspection Service as they are proper authorities for claims concerning mail theft,” Uppal wrote in an email.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage any customer who thinks they may have been a victim of mail theft to reach the Inspection Service at 877-876-2455.”