ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – The Ormond Beach Police Department is investigating six mail thefts reported across the city since early March and said there could be more in other Volusia County cities.
In two of the incidents, homeowners said their surveillance cameras showed a man getting out of a dark green or blue car and stealing the items, police said. Officials have not said if the thefts are related.
The first theft happened March 6 on Creek Bluff Way, when the victim noticed her package was not on her porch even though UPS tracking information showed the package had arrived at 6:22 p.m. that day. The woman said the package contained important documents, such as her Social Security card.
Ten days later, on March 16, a security camera captured a woman getting out of the passenger side of a four-door sedan and snatching a package that was on the front porch of a home on Riverside Drive, according to an incident report.
"We saw a four-door sedan pull up to the house and a female passenger got out of the passenger side of the car. She walked around the car up to the front porch, kind of glanced at the camera, bent down and grabbed the box," victim Chrissy Polans said.
The victim said it appeared as if the woman was trying to avoid the security camera. The package contained fish aquarium components, valued at $287.28.
"The people who took the package are probably sad that that's what they got as a result of their effort," Polans said.
The next incident was reported to police April 7. The victim said she placed 10 checks in the mail at 10 a.m. April 3. The checks were meant to pay bills, but instead the bank said someone altered the check and tried to cash it.
The bank caught the fraudulent activity and notified the victim before the money could be deducted from her account.
The next day, April 8, a package containing an itinerary was taken from a home on US Highway 1 North. The homeowner said surveillance video showed a man between 20 and 30 years old get out of a dark green car and take the package from the top of the mailbox, police said.
On April 9, a woman came home to find her box from Amazon had been ripped open on her front porch of her home on Lynwood Lane and eight of the 12 koozies that were in the box had been taken, according to the report. Each Koozie was worth $1.
The woman's mail had also been left on the ground next to her mailbox, but nothing appeared to be missing.
In the final incident, reported April 10, a woman noticed that an envelope from her bank had been ripped open and the credit card that was supposed to be inside had been stolen, police said. She was able to cancel the card before any fraudulent charges could be made.
Ormond Beach Police Department also shared images of two men who they said ransacked the mailbox at the Willow Pond Apartments in February.
"They went in where they drop off the checks to pay their bills and were able to put a tool in with an adhesive substance and pulled the checks out," Officer Keith Walker said.
While police are working to see if these cases are connected and if any of the people involved were working together, Polans hopes her video will help track them down.
"If somebody recognizes the person or the car on this video, if they can contact the authorities, at least it's one person that we're preventing from doing this to somebody else," she said.
Ormond Beach Police Department share these tips to prevent mail theft:
-Don't leave bills or checks in the mailbox overnight with the flag up.
-Check your mail for unrecognizable bills. If you are not a customer with that company, call them immediately
-Shred all mail that has your personal information on it