Description:
Mailbox located at 170th Ave SE was broken into and mail was stolen.
The Bellevue Police Incident # 14-37079, submitted 7/29/14.
Details
The vandals broke into the mailbox by using a leverage tool on the "Outgoing Mail" slot. This panel gives access to open the entire mailbox similar to how the postman open the mailbox. This is a design flaw of the older mailboxes that 41.5 has. The newer designs have changed this design so that the Postman access panel is below the "Outgoing Mail" slot so that prying that panel open does not give access to the rest of the mailboxes.
Solutions
Since this mailbox design is faulty and not available anymore, a quick repair was deemed not the right way to fix it.
A new mailbox that fits the same pedestal was ordered from budgetmailboxes.com:
CBU - 12 Tenant Boxes 1570-12SAF 1 1039.78 Color = Sandstone Cluster Mailbox In Door ID Layout = Numbered from Sandstone Top-Down Left Side First Door Identification = Standard Number Plates (#1-12) Optional Private Lock = No Thanks, For Post Office Use Pedestal Base = Yes, Include the Pedestal Base at NO Additional Charge Subtotal 1039.78 Shipping 0.00 Tax 0.00 Total 1039.78
The delivery of the mailbox took longer than advertised and was around 18 days.
Note: these mailboxes are 3 inches taller and did not fit under the decorative covers. We needed Brian Rock's portable cutting saw to cut out some clearance in order to fit the new mailbox in.
After installing the new mailbox, keys were handed out to all the residents in the cul-de-sac and the postoffice was notified so that the Postman's master key could be installed.