By MELISSA MEEHAN
Police put their stamp on mail man…
A MAN with hundreds of pieces of stolen mail will be charged to the full letter of the law after he was arrested driving a stolen car last week.
Lilydale CIU Detective Senior Constable Matt Gill said police were still sorting through the stolen mail after finding the stash when they pulled over a stolen car on Thursday.
“There was stolen mail throughout the car – the car was full of it – we found mail in the boot, backseat and front seats,” he said.
“We still don’t know the exact number of letters found – but we believe there is hundreds.”
Sen Const Gill said the majority of the stolen mail found in the car was from all over the Yarra Ranges, but said there was mail from as far away as the Whitehorse and Monash areas.
The 33-year-old man, of no fixed address, is believed to have links to the Mount Evelyn area, but police believe he was originally from interstate.
“We believe that he was trawling through the mail, picking and choosing what he was taking,” he said.
“We believe if he found a credit card or bank card he would take that and then come back a few days later to get the PIN code.”
Of the mail already sorted, Sen Const Gill said it looked as though the man targeted one street at a time and would take mail from a number of houses in the one area.
Police are also investigating whether the man is linked to the theft of several stolen wallets from unlocked cars in the Yarra Ranges and believe he had made a number of purchases using the stolen cards at Chirnside Park Shopping Centre.
Sen Const Gill said the man is expected to face separate charges for each piece of stolen mail as well as a number of thefts and deceptions and has been remanded in custody.
He said that the owners of the stolen mail would be contacted by police, and asked people in the area expecting letters including new credit cards and PIN codes to be aware of the thefts.
Anyone concerned that their details were used can contact Lilydale CIU on 9739 2300.
