Injured Woman In Wheelchair, Man Arrested In San Rafael Mail Theft
SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) -- Two people were arrested after the theft of a large amount of mail from an apartment complex, with one of the suspects stealing mail while injured and using a wheelchair, authorities said.
San Rafael police said an apartment manager reported the mail theft on March 7 in the early morning hours and provided a video of the incident. In the video, a man with a hat and mask over his face and a woman in a wheelchair also wearing a mask are seen entereing the mail room of the complex and removing the mail, police said.
While officers were unable to identify the suspects, a flyer was sent out to other law enforcement agencies asking if anyone could identify them.
On March 17, the Marin County Coordination of Probation Enforcement (COPE) team contacted San Rafael police to alerting about the arrest of a woman and a citation issued to a man on the 7000 block of Redwood Blvd. in Novato on unrelated charges. A COPE detective who had reviewed the flyer recognized the two as being the ones seen in the mail theft video, noting that the two had clothing seen in the video and the woman had recently broken both ankles and was using a wheelchair, police said.
The next day, detectives obtained a search warrant for a hotel room in Novato where the suspects were staying are arrested them. The suspects were identified as Emily Cote, 30, and Kevin Mercure, 31. Neither suspect had a fixed address, police said. Both Cote and Mercure were in possession of mail and personal identifying information of hundreds of people living in various states, according to police.
Cote and Mercure were booked at the Marin County Jail on charges of burglary, conspiracy, mail theft, identity theft, and possession of stolen property. Investigators are working with the US Postal Inspection Service on the case and were contacting victims to determine the extent of the thefts and whether any additional charges are warranted.
Anyone with information about the case was asked to call San Rafael Police at (415) 485-3000. Tips can also be made online at http://www.srpd.org/tips.