When Dwayne Nielsen went to check the mail on Aug. 16, he noticed there was something wrong when his key wouldn't open his mailbox.
Since it was already into the evening, Neilsen had to wait until Monday morning to visit the St. Paul post office to find out why he couldn't access his own mailbox. It was then that he found out the superboxes in his neighbourhood had been broken into, keys had been changed, but not notification had been made to inform him of the matter.
When he went into the post office on Aug. 19, he was given a new mail key. He was also told RCMP had been notified of the potential mail theft, which had likely occurred sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning. Nielsen says he had checked his mail on Thursday before making a trip to the city.
Nielsen says he was not impressed by the lack of information received from Canada Post. He says he expected at least some form of communication, but received none.
"We can confirm that incidents of vandalism occurred earlier this week at community mailboxes in the town of St. Paul," said Hayley Magermans, media relations with Canada Post, last week when contacted by the St. Paul Journal. She added that "Unfortunately, our customer notification process was not followed, and we apologize to the affected customers."
Magermans said the matter is being reinforced internally with local operations.
"All mailboxes have been repaired, and customers who require new keys can pick them up at the St. Paul Post Office . . . All customers must provide government-issued photo identification to pick up their keys," she explained.
St. Paul RCMP confirmed it wasn't only Neilsen's neighbourhood that was a victim or mailbox thefts recently.
"We have received complaints about several mailboxes being damaged in the last week," said Sgt. David Graham, via email with the St. Paul Journal. On Aug. 16, damage to mail boxes at seven different locations in town was reported.
Then, on Aug. 19, two mailboxes near Lafond were broken into. On Aug. 20, it was reported that multiple mailboxes were again broken into around the town of St. Paul at six different locations, it was also reported that mailboxes were broken into at the Foisy General Store, according to RCMP.
"Canada Post takes the security of mail very seriously. We are committed to doing everything possible to support the local authorities in their investigation," said Magermans, in her email to the Journal.
She recommended that it "customers believe they have not received a specific letter-mail item, they should contact the sender. If they have not received a parcel they were expecting, they should inform the sender so that the sender may initiate a claim with Canada Post."
"It's important to check your mailbox on a regular basis so as not to leave anything of value inside for would-be criminals," said Graham, in a media release sent out on Aug. 23.
Customers concerned about identity fraud should contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501. Canada Post encourages anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity to inform the authorities and Canada Post Customer Service at 1-800-267-1177.
RCMP ask anyone with information about the mailbox break-ins to contact St. Paul RCMP at (780) 645-8888 or other local police. If someone wishes to remain anonymous, they can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or use the "P3 Tips" app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.
