Accused burglar breaks into closed post office, steals mail in California, feds say

A 39-year-old man accused of breaking into a California post office to steal mail and packages faces up to five years in prison, federal officials said.

The Bakersfield man pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to burglarizing a U.S. post office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said in a news release.

He smashed a glass door with a hatchet to enter the post office in Caliente in Kern County early on Oct. 28, 2023, prosecutors said.

The man stole “envelopes, letters, and packages” belonging to 10 people from post office boxes and other locations before fleeing in a stolen truck, prosecutors said.

He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Jan. 28, prosecutors said.

Caliente is about a 30-mile drive southeast from Bakersfield.