Caught On Video: Woman Steals Mail, Packages From WeHo Complex

WEST HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A woman was caught on video stealing mail and packages from a secure condominium complex in West Hollywood.

KCAL9's Amy Johnson reports that a woman dressed in pink walked into the Larrabee Manor in the 900 block of Larrabee Street on May 15.

The person on the video went to the community table where packages are left for residents and loaded them all up in a bag. She then opened a couple of mailboxes and emptied them.

"She just walks in very calmly and just goes about her business and walks out with an armload of our stuff," Eliza Engle, the board president of the condo complex, said. "The first time we noticed that she had a master key of sorts that seemed like it would be something she would have gotten from the post office."

Engle said the same woman stole from them a month before.

"That also was done with some master key. That, as far as we know, only the post office has. We don't know how she got that set of keys," she said.

Residents have been warned about the situation and were advised to pick up their mail immediately.

Roy Wilks, however, refuses to use his mailbox.

"Because I don't want things stolen and I have a lot of important mail coming through," he said.

The warnings came too late for resident Matt Davies, who has fallen victim in the past.

"When it happens to you, you get really angry. I've had two boxes of checks stolen, that was pretty hard," he said.

Larrabee Manor has re-keyed the entire mailbox, replaced the call box and is considering a second door to the mailroom.

For now, they are relying on cameras and the images they capture.

"We have video cameras, but unless we hire security, it's really hard to do anything about it," Davies said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the United States Postal Service are investigating the thefts.