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• Thieves Are Targeting Locked Mailboxes, Del Norte Sheriff, Crescent City Postmaster Says

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Though a Del Norte County judge released one suspect with an order to appear, two individuals face multiple charges after a traffic stop on Jan. 27 yielded stolen property and evidence of identity theft.

The arrest of Marisa May Mattz, 40, and Ulderico Benavidez, 46, is part of an ongoing investigation into a spate of mail thefts targeting community lock boxes, said Del Norte County Sheriff Undersheriff Devin Perry on Thursday.

Benavidez is still at the Del Norte County Jail, according to the DNSO’s online information page. Mattz was released Tuesday.

“When they were arrested it was decided to hold them in custody until they could go before a judge as opposed to a book and release,” Perry told the Wild Rivers Outpost. “After they appeared in court (the judge) can decide if they will be released with a date to appear in the future. Mattz went to court (last) Friday and Benavidez went to court today.”

Multiple agencies, including Redwood National and State Parks, the DNSO, Crescent City Police Department and the California Highway Patrol also executed search warrants at two homes and a storage unit on Wednesday. The search of the two homes yielded evidence of mail theft and credit card fraud, including identification cards belonging to various people, Perry told the Wild Rivers Outpost.

Authorities also discovered what appeared to be a log of personal information including addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers, Perry said. Counterfeit money was also at one of the homes, though Perry said he didn’t know if the suspects were involved in counterfeiting or if they were just possessing the money.

According to Perry, one home was “related to” Mattz and the second as well as the storage unit was “related to” Benavidez. Nothing of evidentiary value was found at the storage unit, Perry said.

According to Perry, Redwood National and State Parks law enforcement, who conducted the traffic stop on Jan. 27, also found evidence of credit card fraud and identity theft. That traffic stop took place at Hamilton Avenue and Inyo Street in Crescent City, Perry said.

“There are still further leads that we are investigating,” Perry said, adding that the community’s law enforcement agencies met before serving the search warrant. “Almost every agency in our area has been dealing with these mail thefts and they have some stake in it one way or the other.”

So far, about 60 community lock boxes — which hold 12-16 individual mailboxes — have been hit, Crescent City Postmaster Susan Vargas told the Outpost. The theft has prompted letter carriers to put notices on the units telling residents to collect their mail at the post office.

Residents really need to be diligent about getting their mail every evening, Vargas said.

“Thieves are going to be around forever,” she said, adding that the problem is nationwide. “Even the rural boxes in front of people’s houses, those need to be emptied daily.”

According to the DNSO, Mattz has been charged with criminal conspiracy, petty theft, theft, receiving known stolen property and tampering with a vehicle.

Benavidez faces charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, receiving known stolen property, using another person’s identity, tampering with a vehicle. Benavidez also has a prior felony enhancement, according to the DNSO.

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office has made the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s San Francisco office aware of the thefts and arrests, Sheriff Garrett Scott told the Outpost. He said they’re directly involved in one of the cases “for sure.”

Even though a judge released Mattz with an order to appear, any new evidence will be re-submitted to the Del Norte County District Attorney with a request for further charges, Scott said.

“Then we’ll forward it to the U.S. Postal Inspector also to see if there’s enough criteria to charge (them) federally,” Scott told the Outpost.

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