By Staff reports
CLEARLAKE — On Wednesday at about 7:11 a.m., two Clearlake Police Department (CPD) officers were dispatched to the area of Mendocino Street and Lakeshore Drive on a report of a person stealing mail from residential mailboxes. The reporting party described the suspect to the police dispatcher who immediately updated responding officers with the suspect”s description via the police radio.
CPD Officer Paulsen arrived in the area within a couple minutes of the call and located a person matching the suspect”s description walking on Plumas Street toward Lakeshore Drive. Paulsen and another officer contacted the subject in the 12900 block of Lakeshore Drive. During contact with the suspect, a large pile of mail was found concealed under the suspect”s jacket. The suspect, identified as John Campbell, 31, of Clearlake, initially denied stealing mail. He said that he found a pile of mail and was going to take it to the police department so it could be returned to the rightful owner.
Officers found that Campbell had a misdemeanor theft warrant out of the CPD and arrested him without incident. During the search incident to arrest, a small amount of suspected powdered cocaine was located in allegedly located in Campbell”s pant pocket.
Witnesses were interviewed and identified Campbell as the person seen stealing mail from several different mailboxes. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that Campbell entered and searched approximately 17 individual residential mailboxes on Mendocino Street, Plumas Street and Lakeshore Drive.
He was found to be in possession of mail from approximately 10 different residences. Campbell was additionally charged with petty theft, possession of a controlled substance and possession of stolen property.
During subsequent questioning by officers, Campbell admitted stealing the mail and possessing cocaine. He was later booked into the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility. Some of the stolen mail was returned to the rightful owners and the remainder of the mail was returned to the custody of the U.S. Postal Service. Campbell is not facing federal charges of mail theft as the mailboxes involved in this case are private property and not the property or owned by the U.S. Postal Service.
The CPD takes reports of mail theft seriously and would like to thank the witnesses for coming forward to help police track down the suspect and make an arrest. Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Officer T. Paulsen at 994-8251. Witnesses may remain anonymous.
