BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) – Some people in Berkeley are getting their mail stolen. One resident snapped a photo of the suspects this past weekend, but their neighbor told KRON4 that mail thefts have been going on for more than a year.
It is a scary sight for people who live in Berkeley near Addison Street and Jefferson Way. A picture taken by Katherine Chang’s neighbor on Saturday shows two men taking mail out of a shared mail kiosk. Now she is worried she may be missing more of her mail than she thinks.
“I was gone for about two-and-a-half weeks, and when I came back there was nothing in the mailbox,” Chang said.
She says mail thefts have been happening since late 2022, and she isn’t the only victim.
“My condo complex has an email thread amongst all the neighbors and a lot of my neighbors started reporting the same thing,” she said.
Chang says neighbors have had credit cards and their identity stolen. This summer, police reached out to warn her about similar issues in the neighborhood.
“I actually received a phone call from the Berkeley Police Department telling me that several names and addresses have been stolen and used to make fake IDs,” she said.
Chang says she’s especially concerned now that it’s tax season and important documents will be coming in the mail. Some of her neighbors have resorted to setting up P.O. boxes. They’ve also asked their USPS mail carrier for help.
“The main thing he says is that USPS can’t do anything about it. They can’t change the locks,” she said.
As for what happened on Saturday, Chang says a neighbor called 9-1-1 but police told them it was “outside their jurisdiction.” Chang and her neighbors are now getting elected officials involved.
“Some of my neighbors are very proactive and they’ve contacted our city councilmembers. She replied and said she’s been working on the situation for a few months but she’ll escalate it to our representatives and senators in Congress,” Chang said.
