A 29-year-old man has been charged in connection with a “plague” of thefts from communal mailboxes in the North Cowichan and Duncan areas over the last two months.
Daynen Giese, formerly of Alberta, was arrested on March 18 and charged with several thefts that were part of a series of 28 such incidents in the region since Jan. 14.
“In some instances these mailboxes were in rural settings, but of late a vast majority had been located in the lobbies of apartment buildings in or near the downtown Duncan core,” Cpl. Krista Hobday of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP explained. “In a majority of instances the apartment buildings themselves were broken into; the suspect damaging the door and often prying and damaging the mailboxes.”
The detachment’s General Duty and Street Crime Unit has been working along with postal inspectors from Canada Post to identify the suspect in the crimes.
Giese has been formally charged with one count of break and enter, two counts of theft from mail, two counts of failing to comply with an undertaking, theft under $5,000 in relation to shoplifting, and eight counts of possession of property obtained by crime. He was remanded on the 18th and held in custody for a Provincial Court appearance March 22, when he was remanded to the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre for another week.
“If you have been expecting mail and have not received it, please contact the issuer to confirm if it was sent as it may have been stolen in one of these many cases police have investigated,” Hobday said.
Police and Canada Post offer simple tips to prevent mail theft: collect your mail daily, never send cash in the mail, and if you go away, contact Canada Post to hold delivery until you return.