Man arrested in connection with mail stolen from Lafayette drop boxes

A man was arrested Thursday in connection with $600,000 of stolen mail from United States Postal drop boxes in the Lafayette area, police said.

He faces 19 counts of monetary instrument abuse, bank fraud, 15 counts of theft, 14 counts of forgery, two counts of identity theft and one count for an illegal weapon, Lafayette Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Robin Green said in a news release.

Lafayette police arrested the man after stopping a car on Coolidge Street near Travis Street, in the vicinity of Girard Park. When the man got out of the car, he had several pieces of mail on him that police said he stole from drop boxes. He was also in possession of a United States postal key, police said.

The man was washing and forging checks from the drop boxes, Green said.

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The thefts were only occurring from drop boxes, not personal mailboxes, Green said.

The arrest is part of a three-month criminal investigation into fraudulent checks. Police said they expect more victims of fraud to come forward and for more arrests to be made.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Man arrested in connection to $600,000 in stolen mail