Manteca Couple Arrested For Stealing Hundreds Of Pounds Of Mail
MANTECA (CBS13) — "It's just unfathomable that two people can cause so much havoc," said Sgt. Mike Aguilar with the Manteca Police Department.
Sgt. Aguilar is referring to the arrest of Travis Erwin and his girlfriend, Ciara Renpis, who were busted for stealing hundreds of pounds of mail and then attempting to deposit the victim's checks and using the victim's credit cards.
"To give you an idea of how much mail was located, three of these Fresh Amazon containers were located. Two inside the suspect's vehicle, one inside his residence. You can see numerous packages and mail inside. I estimate there to be at least 30 to 40 people inside this one container and there are several of these containers we have to go through," explained Detective Aaron Montoya.
Manteca police were tipped off after a resident reported being hacked online. The purchase was sent to an address at a Manteca apartment complex, which belonged to the 25-year-old Erwin.
Inside, they found items like packages, credit cards and personal checks – one was for over $20,000.
Police also found a credit card scanner and notebooks filled with people's names and credit card information - things that they would use to make online purchases.
"There is a method to what they do. They go out and seek the most victims they break into in these cluster mailboxes," said Sgt. Aguilar.
"Making sure there is an envelope for each individual victim. The victims are from Manteca and all over the Bay Area," explained Detective Barb Morgan.
Because they are early into the investigation, still don't know how much was stolen or illegally charged. The have to wait until they statements from each victim.
"And through their statement, we will be able to determine how their credit was used,"said Detective Montoya.
Police say because the way the law is written, even though there could be over a 100 victims in this case, the suspects will only face a one count of identity theft. But they could faces other charges as well, which include possession of stolen property, forgery and conspiracy.
Police say there could be well over several hundred victims, who aren't just local to Manteca but as far as the Bay Area. It could be another couple of weeks before they process of the mail they found and identify all their victims.
Finally, police warn residents to check your mail everyday. That can go a long way towards protecting you.
