ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown residents are calling on the U.S. Postal Service to investigate after a collection mailboxes appeared to have been pried open and vandalized Wednesday.
Alan Younkin, who lives in Allentown’s West Park neighborhood, told LehighValleyNews.com he was about to put “three pretty significantly large checks” for a vendor into the mailbox outside Allentown Masonic Temple when he noticed the bottom of the box was open.
“The mailbox had been pried open, the door and the front was hanging open, you could see probably a crowbar had been used to pry it open,” Younkin said.
“If … the box is wide open, people should not drop mail and they should find somewhere else to mail."George Clark, USPS postal inspector
Younkin notified the West Park Civic Association about the suspected vandalism, and the organization sent a message to its members warning them not to use the mailbox.
“The mailbox in front of the Masonic Temple has been broken into and damaged,” the message reads. “Please do not use it … until it is repaired. It is being reported to the Postal Service.”
George Clark, a postal inspector in the service’s Philadelphia office, told LehighValleyNews.com the USPS had not received a formal complaint as of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Potential investigation
Clark said he would inform fellow USPS inspectors of the suspected mailbox vandalism in Allentown. Inspectors likely will launch an investigation “if the box was pried open,” he said.
Anyone who thinks they had mail stolen should file reports with local police and USPS, Clark said. He said “stolen mail represents a very small fraction of the overall volume of mail.”
“From my experience, there are more post offices than McDonald's, so there are post offices around."George Clark, USPS postal inspector
He urged residents not to use the mailbox outside the Masonic Temple — or any other mailboxes that show obvious damage or are open.
“If … the box is wide open, people should not drop mail and they should find somewhere else to mail,” such as a post office or third-party mailing vendor, or giving their mail to a mailman, he said.
“From my experience, there are more post offices than McDonald's, so there are post offices around,” he said.
Collection mailboxes on street corners are secure, but “people can up that security a little bit by taking a few extra steps to just keep their mail off the streets, so to speak,” he said.
Younkin said he will heed that advice and now take his mail to a post office.
“I don't think I'll ever trust the mailbox on the sidewalk again,” he said.
“I don't think there's anything that [USPS] can do that will make me feel safe with a box on the sidewalk now.”
