From Bill Lindelof and Sheila Kern:
A man on probation for drug possession has been arrested on suspicion of stealing mail.
Keith Allen Skipper, 35, was arrested by postal inspectors on suspicion of stealing mail and is being held in Sacramento County Jail. Allen is ineligible for bail.
A criminal complaint alleges that Skipper took large amounts of mail belonging to people in Placer, El Dorado and Nevada counties from personal neighborhood collection boxes.
The complaint noted that on Dec. 9 officers found Skipper parked in an Auburn shopping center parking lot, apparently sleeping.
Authorities found a large amount of mail, about 241 items, on the front passenger seat and floor of his vehicle, the complaint states. The mail was addressed to 51 different addresses, including some in Auburn and Grass Valley.
Among the mail in his possession was some from a Placer County neighborhood collection box that had been pried open, the complaint states.
On Dec. 22, while on bail from state charges that came from the Dec. 9 arrest, El Dorado authorities stopped Skipper because his vehicle had a broken brake light. During a search of his vehicle, about 190 pieces of mail, addressed to people other than Skipper, were found on the front seat.
Much of the mail was addressed to people in the Placerville area. Some of the mail was opened.
In Skipper's wallet was the driver's license of a woman who had been expecting a new license in the mail, the complaint stated.
That same day, a postal inspector interviewed Skipper. The complaint states Skipper confessed that, the night before, he found mailboxes and pried them opening looking for cash and gift cards.
"Skipper admitted he stole mail from a lot of mailboxes," the complaint said.
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