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Published on 08/28/1995 All articles from this issue

Post office box thefts trigger mail safety questions

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

A Los Altos Hills resident has reported mail missing from his post office box in the lobby of the Los Altos Post Office, prompting concerns that the local mail is not safe from thieves.

"I'm missing two things from two different occasions," said the resident, who requested anonymity. "The first hit was between July 22 and July 27 and the second was between Aug. 4 and Aug. 8."

In July, the resident said a check disappeared. In August a contract was taken from the box. His box has a combination lock and a glass door. Some boxes in the lobby have a key, but most are opened using a combination.

"With the glass window, you know what's worth going for and you can get in. My box was rifled, and I saw another box ajar," he said.

Jagdeep Grewal, supervisor of the Los Altos Post Office, 100 First St., said, at the customer's request she gave him a new combination after each incident. She said the boxes are secure.

"There's no way somebody could open somebody else's box. We change the combinations when we re-rent. We have lots of complaints of people who can't open their box even with the combinations. They are hard to open.

"If the box was forced, we would know it."

The lobby is open 24 hours for customers to be able to get into their boxes.

Blanche Bergmann, a box holder for 14 years and Mountain View resident, has never had any missing mail.

"I picked Los Altos for my post office box because Mountain View is not open 24 hours. And I wanted someplace I felt safe. I've seen boxes not completely closed. If you don't turn the dial, the next person can pull it open. And sometimes mail is sorted into the wrong box," she said.

Juli Odum, also a Mountain View resident, chose Los Altos for her box because she wanted a prestigious zip code.

'I wanted Palo Alto but the waiting list was too long," she said. She's a consultant with direct mail marketing. She said she feels safe in the post office lobby and comes at all hours.

Two Los Altos residents recently reported mail containing checks were missing from their residential mail boxes, said Officer Suzie Galvez of the Los Altos Police Department.

One incident happened Aug. 7 on Mt. Hamilton Avenue in Los Altos, in the zip code of 94022. The Aug. 8 mail theft occurred on Oak Avenue, also in Los Altos, zip code of 94024. No new mail thefts have been reported since then, Galvez said.

Mail has been stolen before in Los Altos, said Adolph Granato, customer service supervisor with the Los Altos Post Office.

Over the weekend of March 31-April 1, mail containing checks was stolen from a collection box in front of the post office on First Street, he said. Seven-to-eight people filed reports with the Los Altos police and then a claim was filed with the postal inspector in San Francisco.