Duluth Police Arrest Suspect in Gary Neighborhood Mailbox Tampering Case

A 25-year-old man is sitting in the St. Louis County jail after Duluth Police say he admitted to opening mailboxes and stealing mail from the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood, a case that also has officers looking at him for a second mail theft earlier in the same month.

Duluth Police arrested a suspect accused of opening mailboxes and mail near 99th Avenue West, and police say the suspect admitted to being the individual involved in the incidents that occurred in Gary on March 18. Police say they are familiar with the suspect, adding that he is also their suspect in a similar incident earlier this month.

Officers responded to 99th Avenue West in the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood, a few blocks from the rec center, around midnight Wednesday morning. More precisely, officers responded to the area at approximately 12:10 a.m., but the call came in just past midnight near 99th Ave West and Goodhue Street, after reports of someone going through mailboxes and opening mail. The suspect was gone by the time officers arrived.

The suspect was described as wearing all black with a snowmobile helmet. The activity spanned multiple blocks: police were seeking information or video showing a suspect going through and opening other people's mail, responding to 99th Avenue West in the Gary-New Duluth neighborhood. Specifically, the incidents were concentrated in the 400 and 500 blocks of 99th and 98th Avenue West, including Vintage Acres Trailer Park.

Going through people's mailboxes and opening their mail is a federal crime. The suspect has been booked in the St. Louis County jail pending charges. Charges had not yet been filed as of the most recent update, and the timing of any filing remains to be determined. Duluth Police described the matter as "this remains an active and ongoing investigation."

Anyone with home-surveillance footage of the suspect in that area is asked to call the Duluth Police Department's Property Crimes Division at (218) 730-5160 and reference case number ICR# 26036389. Anonymous tips can be submitted by texting the keyword "DPDTIP" and your tip to 847411.