Watchful Neighborhood Helps Alsip Police Catch Suspected Mail Thieves
CHICAGO (CBS) -- They went into an Alsip neighborhood and decided to steal piles of mail from a mail truck, but watchful residents quickly put an end to their plans.
Donna Waldrom said she walked outside to put a letter in her mailbox Monday afternoon on the 11500 block of Kenneth Avenue. Then she saw a man on the street grabbing piles of mail from the back the truck.
"I was actually really shocked," she said. "I thought, 'That's not our mailman.'"
The mailman was walking down the street on his route.
Waldrom said the thief was stuffing the mail piles into another car, as his partner in crime sat behind the wheel.
"So then I realized what they were doing, and I called for my husband right away, to kind of confirm what I saw. And he called the police," Waldrom said.
Waldrom said when the suspects spotted her, they drove off in the car they were in.
Police say they found the car nearby with the mail inside nearby at the Midpoint Apartments, in part because another witness had told police the license plate number.
Officers say the driver of the car, Demarco Graham, was arrested as well as Devin Moore--but not before Moore took off on foot to a nearby cemetery.
He was arrested about 20 minutes later with the help of Oak Lawn Police.
Graham and Moore are both from Chicago.
The state's attorney's office has approved charges of burglary and theft. Police believe they also stole two packages off porches.
Police say all the mail has been returned to delivery status.
