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Valley neighborhood falls victim to mail theft

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Another valley neighborhood has fallen victim to mail theft. An entire box broken into, affecting more than a dozen families. This neighborhood residents are not happy.
 
"It's just absolutely ridiculous," said mail theft victim Donald D'Avanzo.
 
D'Avanzo was out walking his dog Monday morning when he came across it. He immediately called the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. They connected him to the United States Postal Service inspector hotline.
 
"I was basically told, if they decide to investigate, they'll contact me," he said.
 
To add to the frustration, D'Avanzo's daughter's birthday was last week. They were still waiting on some presents from out-of-town relatives.
 
"Who knows if there was gifts in the box that came in on Saturday 'cause we were busy over the weekend so we didn't check our mailbox on Saturday," he said.
 
Another concern of his is identify theft.
 
"They took people's personal information, their credit cards, anything....social security, driver's license number. There's probably enough information in everyone's mailbox to steal their identity," said D'Avanzo.
 
The mail theft victim is realizing the placement of their community mailbox probably did not help their cause.
 
It's on the side of the road that has no street lights. It's not located on a person's property, like the other's in their neighborhood.
It is also surrounded by brick walls which he says could muffle the sound of a break-in.
 
"When a person breaks into a mailbox, it's like a playground for them. These are the ones that they look for," he said.
 
Because this is happening more and more around the valley, D'Avanzo is also concerned their break-in won't be a priority to USPS.
 
He says it took a few weeks to replace other neighborhood's mailboxes after they were broken into.
 
Now, residents will have to go to the Post Office to pick up their mail until the box gets taken care of.