WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Mailbox break-in

| Crime | West Seattle news

The photos and report are from Natalie:

We had our townhouse group mailbox broken into overnight around 3:30 am 3/25 at Brandon/California. We have video and it appears they had keys to just open the whole set of 4 mailboxes. USPS case number 86835698 if anyone recognizes them; attached are photos of the car and 2 individuals that opened and stole from our box.

There was a third person in the car that never left the vehicle. We couldn’t read the plate from the video. A reminder to bring your mail in daily.

CarDriver March 25, 2026 (12:34 pm)

As WSB reminded: pick up your mail daily. You’d be surprised how many people don’t.

WSB March 25, 2026 (2:05 pm)

Reply

That wasn’t me, it was a quote from the person who sent the report, but there are a lot of reasons why people might not get to … the message is probably more, try not to have anything important sent in a way that might lead to it sitting in a mailbox for an hour or a day ….

WS resident March 25, 2026 (1:38 pm)

Mailbox West had boxes broken into last week as well. John said the thief used a crowbar to get through the front door, but the bank of boxes that was accesed is recessed and didn’t show any sign of forced entry. Not sure if they had a key to it, or if this was previously reported on the blog or to police. He was able to capture an image of the thief too with their arm full of mail.

WSB March 25, 2026 (2:00 pm)

Reply

Hi, no, nobody reported this one to us. I check police incidents via the log, especially looking for business burglaries as well as robberies, but it’s a very imperfect system, with very scant public-facing information, and we really appreciate hearing directly from victims so we can follow up – TR

Robert March 25, 2026 (1:51 pm)

This happened to our bank of 6 mailboxes in January; opened with a master key. I filed a police report and several weeks later, USPS called me to follow up. The asked for any video we might have had. Sadly, there was none. I was glad to know the post office followed up.

Andy March 25, 2026 (6:28 pm)

My mail was also stolen earlier this month in the Highland Park area. I was only notified by my mail carrier and opened an incident with the postal inspector. There was absolutely no damage to our boxes, so the thieves had to have used a master key. I expressed my concerns to my post office and they just rolled their eyes at me.

Sam March 25, 2026 (10:39 pm)

Highly recommend signing up for USPS informed delivery so you have a record of your mail! <3 also prompts you to go grab it periodically.

Andy March 26, 2026 (3:48 pm)

Reply

I would love to have informed delivery, however, for some reason, my address isn’t eligible. When I asked the post office about it, they shrugged and couldn’t give me an answer on why or a way to get my address qualified. I definitely used informed delivery at previous addresses and I found it incredibly beneficial.