EXCLUSIVE: Upper Darby Police Arrest 2 Men Who Stole Hundreds Of Thousands In Mailbox Theft Operation
DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) -- Two suspects are in custody after a postal carrier was robbed late last year. Upper Darby police believe they stole a tool that allowed them to steal mail from post boxes.
Upper Darby police have arrested two men they say were behind a stolen check washing operation that netted hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Gransae Manue, of Clifton Heights, and Sam Wolo, of Southwest Philadelphia, are first accused in the strong-arm robbery of a 58-year-old postal carrier in December.
They allegedly obtained what's known as an arrow key, allowing them access to those blue post office mailboxes.
Detectives allege the pair then went on a spree -- stealing checks, washing them with acetone, increasing the check amounts by tens of thousands of dollars and making them payable to themselves.
"Postal inspectors, they're out there, the mail carriers, it can be a dangerous job," Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt said. "In this case, it was. Very fortunate that nothing happened to them. And again, it's ready cash. People know that they're mailing checks, and people, believe it or not, mail cash."
Police say what made this scheme so profitable is that a single key opens every mailbox in the zip code.
Court papers show police used home camera systems in the area of the robbery and smartphone tracking technology in developing their case against Manue and Wolo.
A search warrant revealed the suspects had, in their possession, 348 personal checks from the Drexel Hill and Lansdowne areas.
Police now advise people to stop mailing checks and money.
"It's a sigh of relief that we were able to catch these two guys," Bernhardt said. "Again, the investigation is still ongoing, and the Postal Inspection Services is going to be notifying anyone that we believe or they believe could be a victim in this case."
Investigators say more charges are possible and say there is an unknown number of victims yet to come forward.
