Video of alleged community mailbox theft sparks concern over unauthorized USPS master keys

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A video circulating on social media, which appears to show a man accessing locked post office boxes in a Colorado Springs neighborhood, is renewing fears of package theft beyond the holiday season.

A neighbor in the Pleasant Valley area, west of I-25 off Mesa Rd., shared security camera footage recorded just after 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 6.

In the footage, shared on the neighborhood networking app Nextdoor, a person can be seen removing mail and packages from mailboxes and handing them to someone inside a car. They then close and appear to possibly lock the mailboxes, sparking concerns that the people in the video have an unauthorized master key.

The neighbor who captured the video tells KRDO13 that he contacted Colorado Springs police, but was told the department does not handle mail theft cases.

Mail theft is a federal crime handled by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

The neighbor says he filed a report with USPS, but is not optimistic; he says he filed a similar report in September and never heard back.

KRDO13 contacted USPIS, who said they can't share details about ongoing investigations, but did share the following:

The Postal Inspection Service is aware of the incident in September as well as the most recent incident and is investigating these occurrences in collaboration with the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The Postal Inspection Service encourages customers to pick up mail daily and to sign up for services such as USPS Informed Delivery.

The neighbor hopes that someone recognizes the people or vehicle in the video to keep this from happening again.

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