KATY, Texas — Residents in one Katy neighborhood say their mailboxes keep getting broken into, and the stolen mail is now reaching into the parts of life they cannot easily replace. Paul Hernandez said the mailbox on his side has been hit at least four or five times in the last few months, and he and his neighbors say they have filed police reports and postal inspector reports with no change so far.
“The mailbox on our side has been broken in at least four or five times in the last few months; we've gone everywhere,” Hernandez said. “Something has to be done ultimately. I mean, not today, not tomorrow, I mean now.”
The break-ins matter because the missing mail is not just junk or late notices. William Darby said medication from the VA comes through the mail, including asthma medication, blood pressure medicine and cream for bad places on his head. He said he gets frustrated without his blood pressure medicine, and that anger has only grown as the thefts have continued.
“I'm getting frustrated over it because my medication from the VA, comes through the mail, if I don't get my medication, I got asthma medication coming in, I got blood pressure medication coming in, I got cream coming in for bad places on my head,” Darby said. “Without my blood pressure medicine, I get frustrated.”
The complaints have turned the thefts into a recurring neighborhood problem rather than a one-time crime. Hernandez said the mailbox on their side has been broken into repeatedly over the last few months, and Darby said he believes the pattern points to someone with access. “Nothing we can do about it, but it makes me angry that somebody is stealing from us, and it's not the first time, the time before that - they had a key,” he said. “Somebody's getting a key somehow or another.”
The United States Postal Inspector's Office said it is aware of the theft in the neighborhood and is investigating. ABC13 could not confirm whether the Katy area is being hit with internal mail theft, but residents say the damage is already clear in the missing mail and the medications they no longer trust will arrive. For Hernandez and Darby, the unanswered question is no longer whether the break-ins are real. It is how long their neighborhood will keep waiting for someone to stop them.