鈥淚鈥檓 concerned for my neighbors. I get very angry about the situation. I feel violated,鈥� said Watt.
The cameras he鈥檚 installed have caught thieves in the act 鈭� driving by, going from one mailbox to another, and grabbing what they can.
Watt pulled a prank on one thief who reached into his mailbox and got stung by a mousetrap.
Another theft video shows a man with a child in the passenger seat.
鈥淲hat kind of people are hauling their kids around at one in the morning, stealing mail?鈥� questioned Watt.
Watt says police have told him thieves are mainly looking for personal information.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e looking to steal your identity, perhaps ruin your credit for whatever they can gain. They鈥檙e not just going down my street 鈥� drive around the block and see the mailboxes open on the next street also,鈥� said Watt.
Local U.S. Postal Inspector John Wiegand says mail theft is a growing problem and a top priority for the agency.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything I can ever say about mail theft, it鈥檚: report it, report it, report it. It鈥檚 a dramatically underreported crime,鈥� said Wiegand.
Watt says he鈥檚 encouraging other neighbors to put cameras out.
鈥淭his is very easy to do and it almost always gets a face and that鈥檚 enough for the police to work with,鈥� said Watt.
Watt says he knows of at least one thief who was caught with the help of his video.
USPS offers聽聽to better protect mail, letting customers know what mail is on the way.
漏2025 Cox Media Group
