Tucson's Most Wanted: Holidays ripe for mail theft, fraud and property crime

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of mail-theft suspects who have been active in midtown Tucson.

Officials said the suspects have been targeting mailboxes in residential areas near East Glenn Street and North Swan Road. At this point, it is unclear if the cases are related.

This week alone, three billion pieces of mail are being delivered nationwide. Criminals know that, too, which is why mail theft and parcel theft are spiking across southern Arizona.

According to the U.S. Postal Inspector in Tucson, the suspects recently ripped off several mailboxes near Glenn and Swan. But they did not stop there. Each was then spotted using stolen credit cards or checks, trying to cash in at local stores and banks.

With that information in hand, investigators set their sights on this very specific kind of criminal.

Mail theft is a federal offense. That is why the reward is so substantial for each unsolved case.

"We will get information from where they've been used, we get the images, the people who are using the credit cards," said David Birch, U.S. Postal Inspector for Tucson. "And we ask for the public's help. It's been successful in the past of having the community give us some information, to safeguard the community and put these people behind bars."

The same can be said for the top two suspects on the 88-CRIME website, both wanted for theft-related crimes or trafficking stolen property.

Then there was Operation Grinch Stopper last week, in which U.S. Marshals arrested more than 200 fugitives statewide wanted for fraud, theft and burglary.

Finally, police ask that the public take a look at these two suspects. They allegedly broke into a 56-year-old man's home while he was playing video games at 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 9.

Police say they assaulted him, tied him up and stole his credit cards. With those credit cards, the suspects attempted to make some purchases at a local big box store.

Both are still at large, authorities said. But Marshals have a message for them and other would-be offenders in our community:

"If you're considering preying upon people in this community, we're out here in force and we're gonna find you and bring you to justice," said Deputy U.S. Marshal Nathan Alexander.

If you have any information about any of the subjects featured in this report, please call 911 or 88-CRIME, the Pima County Attorney's anonymous tip line.

For more information related to mail theft in particular, click here: https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/ or call 1-887-876-2455.