Another Break-in at the Lakebay Post Office

The Lakebay Post Office was burglarized April 3 at approximately 3:30 a.m. It was the second successful break-in of the post office in the last 22 months.

Pierce County Sheriff Public Information Officer Sgt. Darren Moss said video surveillance showed a white male 20 to 30 years old wearing a black hooded sweater and a black balaclava mask dropped off at the rear of the post office by an unknown vehicle. The suspect walked directly to the video camera mounted outside the building and spray-painted the lens.

After entering the building through the unlocked lobby door, regularly left open for boxholder access, the intruder sprayed the lobby video camera with paint before breaking into the locked office. Keys for post office boxes and other items were stolen.

John Wiegand, U.S. Postal Inspection Service public information officer, said the burglary was more sophisticated than the recent break-in at the Belfair post office in Mason County April 17, and that the two incidents are unrelated. The Belfair burglary had no loss of any kind.

“Lakebay had some mail and what we refer to as ‘postal assets’ stolen from the facility,” Wiegand said. “They have or are still working on the process of rekeying any boxes that were or may have been affected.”

The Lakebay post office was burglarized in June 2019 (“Lakebay Post Office Break-in Under Investigation,” KP News, August 2019).

“Particularly in our area, we’ve had a pretty good success rate on burglaries” Wiegand said. The postal inspection service solved a string of burglaries in 2020 at four post offices in Kitsap County and one at the Allyn branch in Mason County, resulting in multiple arrests associated with a criminal ring.

“We have some good leads we’re following up on this one too. We’re making progress,” he said.

There was no response to KP News inquiries on how long the Lakebay Post Office lobby doors will remain locked outside of normal business hours.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction for the April 6 burglary of the Lakebay Post Office. Contact the US Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455.