Crime update

Damaged mailboxes repaired, police continue to investigate post office break-in

Feb 21, 2019 | 12:00 PM

RCMP continue to investigate following a break-in at the Battleford Post Office on the weekend that resulted in damage to many of the mail boxes.

RCMP initially received a complaint on Saturday at 8:14 a.m. Police believe the break-in occurred overnight.

Sgt. Jason Teniuk told battlefordsNOW Thursday many mail boxes were damaged inside the post office as a result of the incident.

“It looks like a whole wall of mail boxes were pulled out of the wall,” he said. “Several other ones were broken into.”

Teniuk said while it hasn’t been determined what, if anything, was stolen in the incident it appears more likely the main intent was theft since “it’s not typical for vandalism to go to this extent.”

The culprit(s) managed to gain entry to the building through a side door.

Teniuk wouldn’t say whether the RCMP have any suspects since the incident is under investigation.

He asked anyone with information to contact the RCMP or Crime Stoppers. Any inquiries with regards to missing mail should go to Canada Post, Teniuk said.

“Any time something like this happens it’s always concerning,” Teniuk said of the incident. “It’s something the public needs to be aware of… We all need to take a role in this. If you see activity in that area that you feel is suspicious or warrants a further look, please give us a call and we will have somebody take a look at it.”

Canada Post said in an email Thursday the damaged mail boxes have now been repaired for customers to pick up their mail.

In its initial statement Wednesday, the company indicated that affected customers could collect their mail in the post office with government-issued photo ID.

Canada Post said if anyone is concerned about identification fraud, they should contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

If customers believe they haven’t received a particular piece of mail, they should contact the sender.

Canada Post stated it wouldn’t comment further while the incident is being investigated

Photo: (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

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