Fremont Community Hit Again by Mailbox Robbery – NBC Bay Area

A Fremont apartment complex is frustrated after thieves repeatedly ransacked mailboxes in the complex.

Surveillance video shared with NBC Bay Area showed a couple opening the community’s mailboxes in a white SUV on Friday and using a key to open them. Mayank Chorpa, who shared the footage, said he was shocked.

“They can open the entire cluster box and take out all the stuff that’s in there,” he said.

A similar incident occurred in January, when thieves took a whole cluster of mailboxes. The fact that this happened again in the same year was worrying for residents.

“You feel a little violated,” said Samuel Shannon of Fremont.

Although Friday’s incident had no immediate consequences for Shannon, he said he has been on high alert since it first happened.

“If I see at work that I have a package, I run home. Because if it gets too late in the evening, all kinds of things suddenly disappear,” he says.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, robberies were the fastest growing and most common crime against postal workers, with more than 600 incidents reported in 2023.

“The robberies are the number one way in the Bay Area that we’ve taken these keys. Depending on the older locks, it could be a fake key, but possession of a real or fake postal key can result in up to 10 years in federal prison. That’s a different federal offense,” said U.S. Postal Inspector Jeff Fitch.

Fitch said people should never engage with suspects because they are often armed. He recommended reporting the incident and recording video if possible.

Now Chorpa is worried about how he will secure his post.

“These things will probably force us to put up some fences,” he said.