Eugene, OR — A series of mail thefts in and around neighborhoods near Churchill High School have left multiple communal mailboxes broken into and residents without access to their mail. The thefts, which occurred on Christmas Eve, involved thieves ripping open the backs of the mailboxes, stealing both packages and other mail.
Ericka Thessen, a resident of an apartment complex on Westleigh Street, was among those affected by the thefts. She reported that her own package was stolen, but noted that others in her complex had much more taken. “It sounds like these units were all broken into Christmas Eve day and Christmas Eve night,” Thessen said. “They stole all the mail, the packages, and things like that.”
Thessen speculated that the thieves used a crowbar to break into the mailboxes, leaving the units wide open for several days. “It kind of seems like they were able to come in here with a crowbar and pop it open,” she said. “It was wide open for a couple of days.”
The Eugene Police Department is currently investigating the thefts and has confirmed that they are searching for an older model white Ford F-150 with large containers in the bed, which was seen in the area. In addition to the Westleigh Street area, other neighborhoods, including East and West Windsor Circle, Parliament Street, Paget Avenue, and Harvard Drive, were also targeted by the thieves.
John Hubbard, a resident along Harvard Drive, witnessed the suspicious truck near a mailbox in his neighborhood. “I started noticing the back of the box looked like it was damaged, and then I heard a pop,” Hubbard recalled. “I looked up the street about a block and a half up the street, and there was another set of these boxes. That’s exactly where that pickup was parked, and I thought, ‘Oh crud, they’re breaking into the boxes.'”
As word spread about the thefts, many neighbors were left wondering how they would receive their mail in the coming weeks. USPS employees informed residents that the damaged mailboxes could not be repaired and would need to be replaced entirely. However, that process could take anywhere from six months to a year or more, leaving many residents without mail delivery in the interim.
Thessen said she was told by a USPS employee that the damaged mailboxes would not be fixed, but instead replaced, a process that could take up to a year. “None of us will be able to have mail service at our house,” she said.
Hubbard also shared that he was told by the post office that he would need to pick up his mail from a distant post office, located about seven miles away, until the situation is resolved. “My neighbors told me that I would have to go to the one that’s seven miles away up the street,” Hubbard said.
As the investigation continues and residents wait for new mailboxes to be installed, many are left grappling with the loss of their packages and the uncertainty of when they will regain regular mail service.
