Sticky Paterson mailboxes become target of postal probe

PATERSON —  An outbreak of sticky mailbox flaps, along with reports of checks missing in the mail, have prompted the United States Postal Service to launch an investigation.

Paterson residents trying to deposit letters in mailboxes in four sections of the city have noticed that their envelopes became stuck in the chute, according to local officials. They checked the letters and found a glue-like substance on them, officials said.

It turns out that thieves sometimes use gluey rodent or insect traps to go “fishing” in mailboxes to try to snatch envelopes containing cash or checks, according to postal officials.

“We’ve got to put a stop to this,” said City Council President Ruby Cotton, who said she recently found a sticky flap on a mailbox at the corner of Washington and Van Houten streets, near City Hall.

Greg Kliemisch, a postal inspector in the federal agency’s Newark office, confirmed having gotten complaints about the situation.

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“We are aware of these issues within the Paterson area and are working with local and state law enforcement to identify and prosecute those responsible,” said Kliemisch. “Postal Inspectors will continue to aggressively pursue these investigations in which the U.S. mail is used to facilitate this crime.”

Kliemisch declined to say exactly how many incidents there have been in the Paterson area. Nor would he say whether the problems in Paterson were any different from mail theft in other cities.

Councilman Andre Sayegh said he has had numerous complaints from senior citizens in the 6th Ward about the mailbox at the corner of Lakeview and Delaware avenues. “They’re telling me that checks they mailed were missing,” Sayegh said.

Councilman William McKoy said he encountered a woman who had a problem with a mailbox on Vreeland Avenue in the 3rd Ward. “She was concerned because it wouldn’t go down the chute,” McKoy said. “She was able to reach in and retrieve it.”

The woman found a sticky substance around the opening of the mailbox, McKoy said.

Cotton said her uncle had problems mailing checks in the blue postal box at the corner of Carroll and Ellison streets, near the senior citizen building where he lives. When told of Sayegh’s comments about elderly mail theft victims in the Lakeview neighborhoods, Cotton wondered about the thieves’ strategy.

“Maybe that’s what they’re doing, going after places where seniors use the mail,” she said, acknowledging that older residents are more likely to send checks and cash in the mail.

Kliemisch said people who think they were victims of “mail fishing” should call the postal inspector’s office at 877-876-2455. He said there have been cases in recent years in which people were arrested for fishing letters from mailboxes.