During the Christmas season, letter thefts occur in the subway and the police are investigating

POLK COUNTY, Iowa – The Clive and Des Moines Police Departments are investigating two separate mail thefts. Both agencies are working with United States postal inspectors.

Clive police told Local 5 they are investigating whether the two incidents are in any way related.

Between 5.30pm Monday and 7am Tuesday the post box bolt outside Clive Post Office was broken.

“We don’t have a vehicle description,” Clive Police Chief Mark Rehberg told Local 5. “We don’t have any suspects. We have nothing at the moment.”

Clive Police said the suspect stole a container full of mail that was in the mailbox. It is unclear who was in the mail and how much it was worth.

“We have no idea how much exactly was taken,” said Rehberg. “We don’t know how many pieces of mail were in there.”

Clive Police are asking anyone who dropped off mail between Monday night and Tuesday morning to get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday in Des Moines, another suspect jumped into a mail truck near 58th and Grand Avenue and drove away. The van was recovered a short distance away. Des Moines police told Local 5 the suspect is unknown at this time.

Although such incidents are not particularly common, package thefts do occur at this time of year. According to a study by home security company Vivint, 80% of Americans surveyed had packages stolen during the 2022 holidays.

Amazon spokeswoman Alisa Carroll recommends keeping a close eye on the online retailer’s package tracker to avoid theft.

“You can see where the package is in delivery on your order page and know when it is a few stops away,” Carroll said.

Carroll also recommends choosing a hidden location to leave packages in the Amazon app.

“If you have a planter or maybe something decorative on your porch, you can always ask the delivery driver to specifically find that item so it’s out of people’s way,” she said.