Roseville police find stolen mailbox cluster being used as nightstand in Sacramento
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Roseville police used traffic cameras to track down an entire cluster of stolen mailboxes.
- Officers recovered the mailbox cluster and stolen mail at a suspect’s home in Sacramento.
- Police said the stolen mailbox cluster was being used as a nightstand when it was found.
Investigators used traffic cameras to track down an entire cluster of mailboxes stolen from where it was installed along a Roseville street and taken away in the trunk of car before police found it being used as a nightstand in a Sacramento home.
The mailbox theft was reported Dec. 20 in the 3000 block of Blackwelder Way in a residential neighborhood between Santucci and Westbrook boulevards and just north of Baseline Road. The neighborhood sits near the west end of Roseville.
An officer responding to the reported theft arrived and found the entire cluster of mailboxes had been removed from its installation along the street and stolen, according to the Roseville Police Department.
Police said the initial 911 caller told authorities that two men were seen in the suspect vehicle, an older-model gold sedan. The officer reviewed traffic cameras at Roseville intersections and asked nearby residents for any home security camera video.
The officer found video of a vehicle matching the description leaving on Blackwelder Way. Police said the car, seen in the video, had “a massive cluster mailbox hanging out of the trunk.”
Investigators tracked down the suspect vehicle’s route using city cameras, and they obtained a license plate number for the car. Police said officers continued their investigation over the next two weeks and identified Michael Lee Johnson Jr., 30, of Sacramento as one of the two mailbox theft suspects.
On Monday, Roseville police officers went to Johnson’s Sacramento home and conducted a probation search. Police said the officers found the stolen cluster of mailboxes “being used as a nightstand” inside a makeshift bedroom inside the home’s garage.
The officers also found numerous pieces of stolen mail at the home. Officers arrested Johnson and booked him at the Placer County Jail, where he remained in custody Friday.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office formally filed felony charges of possession of identifying material with the intent to commit fraud and possession of metal knuckles (a manufactured deadly weapon). Prosecutors also charged Johnson with misdemeanor charges of mail theft and drug possession.
Placer Superior Court records show Johnson pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday at his arraignment. The court set his bail amount at $45,000, but jail records show he also is being held in custody without bail on suspicion of violating probation.
