Police put up red flag on mail theft

Coventry (WTNH) - Police in Coventry have requested townspeople not to put outgoing mail in their mail boxes after they say thieves are stealing mail right from the boxes.

"A party found a bunch of mail thrown on their lawn and they brought it to us," said Gail McDonnell of Conventry Police.

Officer McDonnell said the mail was all opened.

"We think they're looking for easy checks, CD's, cash, gift cards. It may lead to some identity theft," said Officer McDonnell.

It could also lead to bank fraud. Neighborhoods in the North and South ends of town have been hit including High Street where News Channel 8 found Herb Coggeshall.

"You don't have to teach a kid to do wrong; he does it naturally. You have to teach him to do right," said Coggeshall.

Coggeshall just mailed out letters with the red flag up. Police say it's a signal to thieves.

"People know there's something in there outgoing and it's usually when you're paying bills; there's going to be checks in there," said Officer McDonnell.

Police are asking folks to do two things: first, keep an eye on your mailbox to make sure that no one suspicious is hanging around. And, secondly, if you need to mail anything use one of the secure mailboxes.

"We're close to the post office so that shouldn't be a problem," said Rose Fowler of Coventry Country Store.

But not everyone is heading the warning.

"People are creatures of habit; I'll probably just keep doing what I'm doing. I may pay the penalty or not. We'll see, maybe that will change," said Coggeshall.

"If anyone's ever had their license or identity stolen it's a huge mess to get out of so we want to avoid that if we can," Officer McDonnell said.

Officer McDonnell said she found a lot of people did notice their mailbox was open and thought something might have been missing but didn't want to bother police.

She said what may seem small could turn into a big problem down the road.