Mailbox Fisher Caught, Arrested In Forest Hills: NYPD

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS -- A 22-year-old Bronx man was arrested after police caught him mailbox fishing with an old juice box in Forest Hills.

The NYPD's 112th precinct has repeatedly warned residents about the theft crime, in which thieves cover an average tool with a sticky substance and use it to pluck checks, bank documents and other valuable mail from public mailboxes. They often "wash" the checks with acetone to erase the ink and substitute in their own information, police said.

But alleged mailbox fisher Luis Velazquez didn't get that far before officers from the 112 precinct busted him at about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 24. The Bronx man had been using an old juice box attached to a wire and covered in sticky substance to pluck mail from the United States Postal Services Box on 65th Avenue near 108 Street, an NYPD spokesman said.

Velazquez was charged with grand larceny, criminal tampering, criminal possession of stolen property and possession of burglar tools.

He was arraigned later that day and is currently being held on a $5,000 cash bond. His next court date is set for Sept. 7.

The 112th precinct announced the arrest in a tweet on Aug. 24 with a picture of three bills stuck to Velazquez's mailbox fishing contraption. Police advised residents to take their checks straight to the Post Office or to drop them off in the USPS boxes as close to pickup time as possible.

Lead photo courtesy of NYPD