Post Office vandalized

Damage to mail boxes at post office in Van Horn. Photo: Culberson County Sheriffs Office
Damage to mail boxes at post office in Van Horn. Photo: Culberson County Sheriffs Office

By Lisa Morton

Local Post Office employees discovered that several mailboxes at the USPS Van Horn facility had been broken into and vandalized last Thursday morning. The Culberson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crime scene and deputies assessed the damage and dusted for fingerprints. Nine post office boxes were compromised after having been pried open or defaced with an unknown type of metal device.

According to Title 18 of U.S. Code 1708 Theft or receipt of Stolen mail, in part, whoever steals, takes, or abstracts, or by fraud or deception obtains, or attempts so to obtain, from or out of any mail, post office, or station thereof, letter box, mail receptacle, or any mail route or other authorized depository for mail matter, or from a letter or mail carrier, any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or abstracts or removes from any such letter, package, bag, or mail, any article or thing contained therein, or secretes, embezzles, or destroys any such letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or any article or thing contained therein, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Customers affected by the break-in were officially notified and asked to monitor their mail for any suspicious activity. The USPS Inspection Service is seeking information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for vandalizing the post office boxes at 603 W. Broadway in Van Horn. Post office box holders are asked to contact law enforcement to report any suspicious activity witnessed at the Post Office between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. last Thursday morning. If you received a notice from the USPS and you believe your mail was compromised, call Postal Inspectors Luis Balandrån at 915-545-5206 or Juan Solis at 915-545-5195. All information will be kept confidential.

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