AUSTIN — A cluster mailbox theft in a Southwest Austin neighborhood has neighbors wondering: is this an inside job?
It’s not the first time mail has been stolen from the Lewis Mountain Ranch neighborhood off FM 1826.
In October, two suspects backed in their truck and hauled off an entire cluster mailbox. The entire incident was caught on the security camera in the neighborhood’s mailbox area. Those suspects have not been caught.
Then, on December 13 around 5 a.m., a person driving a silver truck was seen pulling up to the mailboxes, getting out carrying a mail carrier container, using what appears to be a master key to open the master lock and pulling out handfuls of mail.
Lewis Mountain Ranch homeowner Dean Dzurilla had his mail stolen in October and December. But this time, he tells KVUE, it appears to be an inside job.
"He had the master key that the post office is only supposed to have. And again, just his comfort level of he knew exactly where to go,” Dzurilla said. “He just really looked like he knew what he was doing."
Dzurilla went to the Oak Hill Post Office, which distributes their neighborhood’s mail, to try and get some answers. He said he was told the master key for his neighborhood is the same master key for all the cluster mailboxes serviced by the Oak Hill post office.
The US Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, which oversees the postal service, is now investigating to see if it is indeed an inside job after Dzurilla filed a report.
A representative of the Inspector General tells KVUE in a statement:
"When these types of allegations are made, USPS OIG Special Agents along with our law enforcement partners vigorously investigate these matters….This type of alleged behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior."
In the meantime, neighbors are being encouraged to keep an eye out, report any suspicious activity and get their mail as soon as possible each day.
Dzurilla said the Oak Hill post office did issue them new individual keys for their boxes, however they did not confirm whether or not they replaced the master lock.
The inspector general could also not confirm to KVUE whether or not the master locks had been changed.