By Mary O’KEEFE

A witness reported on social media of seeing two men, not in any type of uniform, pull up to a U.S. Postal Service mailbox on La Crescenta Avenue just south of El Caminito Street at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and take the mailbox from its bolted location, then place it into a plan white pickup truck then drive off.

In an interview with CVW, the witness, who requested being kept anonymous, said s/he contacted the local USPS office early the next morning and was told that there was no report of the mailbox being removed. Later, when the witness called again, the person spoken with said someone had attempted to pry open and remove the mailbox and that USPS workers took the mailbox to repair it.

“I asked what would happen to the mail that was in the mailbox,” the witness asked. S/he was told the mailbox was taken to a separate area to be repaired and the mail would stay in the box for up to 30 days prior to the repairs being completed.

On Wednesday, USPS workers were seen installing a new mailbox at the location. The workers wore uniforms identifying them as USPS employees and were driving USPS marked trucks.

CVW reached out to the Los Angeles County USPS representative.

“The box was removed by district maintenance [Tuesday] due to vandalism. A new box is being installed today,” said Evelina Ramirez, USPS spokeswoman.

She added that the postal vehicle used to pick up the damaged collection box had government plates, although the witness contends it did not have any plates, and that maintenance employees do not wear the same uniform as city carriers.

The witness stated the men were wearing jeans and T-shirts.

“Any and all mail that is inside the collection box during the removal for repair is taken out and placed into the mail-stream that evening for processing. The Postal Service has a 24/7 operation,” Ramirez said.

As was stated in the article in this week’s newspaper concerning the “unofficial” ballot drop boxes, people who placed their vote-by-mail ballot in any USPS mailbox, an official ballot drop box or will be dropping it at a Vote Center are encouraged to subscribe to Where’s My Ballot to ensure that their voted ballot was returned to the appropriate office – regardless of return method. If a voter would like to request a replacement ballot, that option is available on the website lavote.net or by calling (800) 815-2666.

  Mary Okeefe