Wasn't this a Seinfeld episode?

[StoneMtn]

May 17, 2006

Cops find mail, arrest hoarder

Ex-letter carrier faces jail

By PAUL TURENNE, POLICE REPORTER

A North Kildonan woman who was fired from her job as a mail carrier three months ago was arrested last weekend after Winnipeg police found five months worth of undelivered mail hoarded in her garage.

The 33-year-old woman, who worked for Canada Post for 11 years but was fired in February, faces two counts of mail theft, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. She has been released on a promise to appear in court.

Police could not say how much mail was found in her garage but did say there were about 60 empty mail bags, boxes of flyers and piles and piles of packages, letters and courier items dating from October 2005 to February 2006.

None of the mail appears to have been tampered with.

"She didn't sort through the mail, she didn't steal it, she just didn't deliver it for whatever reason," said Const. Jacquie Chaput, a spokeswoman for Winnipeg police. "She didn't even dispose of the flyers."

'RARE OCCURRENCE'

Teresa Williams, a spokeswoman for Canada Post, said it appears some mail from the woman's route did get through, and investigators are still trying to determine whether all the mail seized from her garage belonged to her route.

Williams wouldn't say which route the woman worked, but it's believed to be in the same area as her Springfield Road home.

"Once the police have all they need for evidence they'll give Canada Post the OK to deliver it to the rightful owners, and it will come with a letter explaining why that piece of mail was delayed," said Williams.

"Unfortunately, it does happen from time to time (that employees steal mail)," said Williams. "It is a rare occurrence but it's one we take very seriously because it paints all mail carriers with the same brush, and that's just not the case. By far most of our employees would never dream of doing something like this."

A 26-year-old mail carrier in the Ontario community of Huntsville was charged with theft in March after police discovered thousands of catalogues, letters and Christmas cards inside a jeep.

Two letter carriers in Montreal were fired last year after Canada Post found that 75,000 letters and packages had been stolen over five years.

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