Police arrest local man after several hundred pieces of mail go missing
By Kyra Hoggan
A 36-year-old Rossland man is facing 14 counts of theft of mail after several hundred pieces of mail went missing.
Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Deb Postnikoff said police arrested the man, a sub-contracted janitor at the post office, on Nov. 28. “Canada Post had noticed a recent trend of customer complaints of non receipt of mail items addressed to residents in Castlegar and surrounding areas,” she said. “An internal investigation was conducted by Postal Inspectors and RCMP that resulted in the identification and arrest of (this) individual.” She said theft of mail is such a serious matter it warrants its own specific section in the Criminal Code (along with, oddly, theft of cattle and theft of oysters), and can come with a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment. The man is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Castlegar Jan. 4. Meanwhile, police are still getting calls from people who are missing items that were mailed but never arrived at their destination, and are sifting through evidence as the investigation continues. Postnikoff said police are confident they’ve found the sole perpetrator, and that our post office is once again secure, but cautions against sending cash or gift cards in the mail regardless. “It can still be stolen out of your mailbox – and this is a season when thieves would be watching for that kind of thing,” she said. “It’s always better to send cheques or money orders made out to a specific person.”
