After mail thefts, federal authorities charge five

Federal authorities have charged five people, including a Norridge man and four people from Chicago, with possessing U.S. Postal Service keys and/or stealing from the mail.

The arrests come after numerous incidents in the past two years of mail being stolen from mailboxes and post offices, with thieves sometimes altering the checks for large amounts of money and cashing them. Such incidents have happened in Norridge, Park Ridge, Morton Grove, Evanston, Carpentersville, Chicago Heights, New Lenox, Thornton, Frankfort, Mokena and elsewhere in the Chicago area.

The U.S. attorney for the

Northern District of Illinois, the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the Chicago Police Department announced the arrests and federal indictments of the five as part of “Operation Broken Arrow,” an ongoing federal investigation into the thefts of postal keys and mail.

Charged with unlawfully possessing a U.S. Postal Service key and stealing pieces of mail are Savannah S. Shandor, 29, of Chicago, Joseph T. Solomon, 37, of Norridge, Thaddeus J. Harper, 42, of Chicago.

Shaun A. White, 25, of Chicago, and Jordan J. McPhearson, 31, of Chicago are charged with unlawfully possessing a U.S. Postal Service key.

Joseph D. Fitzpatrick,

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said all the thefts related to the suspects occurred in Chicago, and that no trial date has been set yet.

In Norridge, Norridge Police Sgt. Brian Loughran said a preliminary check indicated none of the suspects appears to match a person, estimated to be about six feet in height, who was caught on video apparently using a key to remove mail from a U.S. Postal Service mailbox outside Norridge Village Hall.

Last month, Loughran and Harwood Heights Police Chief John DeVries both said they have seen an uptick in mail thefts, with thieves obtaining mailbox keys, taking checks out of the mail, “washing” off the writing with a chemical, then making the checks out for larger amounts to someone other than the intended payee and cashing them.

Other thefts of mail or keys have also taken place recently.

On Sept. 28, two postal employees in Evanston were robbed at gunpoint of “arrow keys,” which allow them to access condo building lobbies. Postal officials warned residents of an elevated risk of packages being stolen.

On Oct. 25, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator of an armed robbery of a postal carrier in south suburban Matteson on Oct. 13.