Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Home
Thieves Target Postal Bins in Anchorage
Police are looking for 50-year-old Clifford Dancer in connection with the crimes
By Bill McAllister
Bio | Email

ANCHORAGE - If you dropped off some mail, or holiday gifts, in the past week, you might want to call the postal service, because your packages or mail could have been stolen.

Four postal bins were stolen at post offices in Anchorage, and police are looking for the 50-year-old Anchorage man they say could be responsible.

The Huffman and Spenard post office drop-off bins were taken yesterday, on Christmas, while the receptacles from the Lake Otis and Muldoon locations were taken a few days earlier and have been recovered.

Police say an alert bank customer checking his account online led to the first break in the case.
Police say Clifford Dancer was captured on bank surveillance video cashing a check in which the intended recipient's name had been chemically removed and Dancer's forged in its place.

That check apparently came from the Muldoon drop-off receptacle.

Forgery is a state charge, but whoever stole the bins also could face federal charges of tampering with U.S. mail, which is punishable by up to five years in prison for each count.

"Typically, we've seen mail stolen directly from a mailbox, someone's put the mail out at an unsecured mailbox, or some of the neighborhoods that have the group mailboxes, they'll pry open the back and steal mail out of those,” said APD Detective Michele Logan. “I have not heard here in Anchorage in 18 years I’ve been a detective of them actually stealing the mail receptacles from the post office."

If you think you might have put outgoing mail in any of the collection boxes, you are encouraged to contact U.S. Postal Inspector Kim Dallas at 261-6323.