2 Arrested in Residential Mail Theft Ring; 3rd Still at Large

FOUNTAIN VALLEY â€”  Two people suspected of breaking into residential mailboxes and cashing stolen checks have been arrested following a three-week investigation, police said Friday.

The suspects allegedly stole outgoing mail from at least 40 apartments and houses in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa. They then altered the names on checks and cashed them at local banks, said police Detective Sara Long.

“Many of the people who were victimized wouldn’t find out their checks had been stolen until they received their bank statement or got a call from a creditor,� Long said.

Arrested this week were 30-year-old Lisa Jean Agnew and 27-year-old Kevin Walter Craig. The pair are being held on suspicion of possession of stolen property, suspicion of forgery and suspicion of theft of credit cards.

Long said the suspects were using the money from the checks to buy drugs. She said police stumbled upon the operation when they set up a surveillance at a local motel for drug activity.

“When we contacted the suspects at the motel, we found checks, fraudulent identification and drugs throughout the room,� Long said.

Police suggest that in order to prevent becoming a victim of such crimes, residents should drop mail at the post office or in the blue collection boxes in their community or hand it to their mail carriers instead of leaving outgoing mail in boxes.

Agnew and Craig are being held at Huntington Beach Jail on $25,000 bail each.

A third suspect, 24-year-old Daniel Oharrold, remains at large and is wanted on a $25,000 warrant on the same charges. He is described as a white male, 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds. Police said Oharrold recently cut his hair short and dyed it blond to alter his appearance.

“They may have been doing this for a long time,� Long said. “We suspect that there may be more victims coming forward.�