New security footage obtained exclusively by CBS News Miami shows two men being arrested at gunpoint, accused of stealing checks from the mailbox of a business in Southwest Miami-Dade.
The arrests were made on Friday by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at Pro-Air Solutions after officers conducted surveillance at the business on S.W. 74th Avenue and 45th Street.
One of the victims, Kenneth Ramirez, who co-owns the business, explained, “This started two weeks ago when I realized I had left an employee check in the mailbox and he called me two hours later and it was gone. So we started looking through the cameras and we saw that we were getting robbed every Friday and every Saturday for the last month and a half.”
Ramirez managed to stop payment on the stolen payroll checks, but he was also missing checks with payments from customers, which was particularly distressing. He said, “It was devastating. I have 20 employees and to realize we are not getting customers’ checks and not being able to make payroll with the customers sending payments that were missing, it was heart-wrenching.”
He expressed relief that arrests were made, stating, “It’s great that arrests were made for the community. I am sure that this is not just me that this has happened to.”
The suspects were charged with state crimes including petit theft and possession of five or more items with personal identification information. Ramirez hopes that with the suspects caught, they can determine where the checks went and build a case against them.
U.S. Postal Inspector Blanca Alvarez emphasized the importance of being vigilant and reporting suspicious activities to the postal inspection service and local police departments. She mentioned that postal thefts had been on the rise until the implementation of Project Safe Delivery.
Alvarez also recommended measures to protect your mail, such as not leaving it in your mailbox overnight and using the Informed Delivery service provided by the postal service, which sends you pictures of mail you will be receiving so you can be aware of what is coming and look out for it.