Apartment mailboxes targeted

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/04/2011 (5380 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You can bet the thief wasn’t after a grocery-store flyer.

Residents of a River Heights apartment block are among the latest mail-theft victims in Winnipeg after dozens of mailboxes were pried open last week with a crowbar.

It’s crime that’s increased since January at residential buildings across the city, including ones on Grant Avenue, Roslyn Road, Cumberland Street, Hargrave Street and Queen Street.

Lloyd Loxton, a resident of the Cambridge Avenue apartment block hit last week, said he’s lived there for years without any troubles.

That is, until early last Wednesday, when the thief or thieves came in through a side door and then wedged open the mailboxes.

“It’s like an invasion,” said Loxton, who said elderly residents were “shook up” by what happened.

He said he already picks up his debit card directly at a credit union because he doesn’t want it to “disappear” in the mail. “I’ve been there for 12 years and there’s never been a break-in anywhere, anyhow, anything,” he said.

Late last month, the Winnipeg Police Service alerted the public they’d seen a spike in the number of residential mailbox thefts from apartments and condominiums.

A police spokeswoman said Tuesday officers have made no arrests in relation to the thefts.

Police recommend people check their mailboxes on a daily basis and make plans to stop their mail or have someone else pick it up when they’re away. Spokeswoman Const. Natalie Aitken said many people receive income-tax refunds and GST rebate cheques at this time of year.

“Just get in the habit of checking it on a daily basis. I think that can probably prevent a lot of headaches down the road,” said Aitken.

Last July, police in Edmonton charged nine people who allegedly used stolen mail for identity theft.

Aitken said, however, it would be “pure speculation” to say a similar group is operating in Winnipeg.

“Do we have that here? We don’t have anything to suggest that right now,” she said.

Bonnie Rempel, a senior property manager at Winpark Dorchester Properties, said last Sunday night a thief pried open six mailboxes at an East Kildonan property.

She encourages tenants to be “vigilant” and watch who they open their doors to or buzz into a building.

“It’s people’s identities, and if there’s cheques in there or personal information, credit-card statements, I’m sure that could be a big problem,” she said.

Rempel said the thief didn’t make off with much Sunday because most tenants had already collected their mail.

Brian Smiley, Manitoba Public Insurance spokesman, said people who are concerned about having their MPI rebate cheques mailed to them can make arrangements to pick them up at a service centre. The cheques are tentatively expected to be sent by the end of May, he said, but may be available earlier.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Protect your mail

Put a hold on your mail with Canada Post if you’re away

Pick up your mail as soon as possible, and don’t leave it there overnight

Don’t leave mail that’s not for you in public areas. Instead, mark “Not at this address” on the envelope and put it in a letter box or outgoing mail.