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Thieves Arrested for Stealing $3K in Checks from Upper East Side Mailbox

By Shaye Weaver | June 15, 2017 3:21pm
 Four men were arrested this month for stealing checks out of an Upper East Side mailbox (not pictured above), police said.
Four men were arrested this month for stealing checks out of an Upper East Side mailbox (not pictured above), police said.
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DNAinfo/Dartunorro Clark

UPPER EAST SIDE — The rash of mail thefts plaguing East Harlem appears has made made its way to the Upper East Side.

Four men were arrested earlier this month for stealing checks totaling more than $3,000 from a mailbox at the southwest corner of East 90th Street and Park Avenue, prosecutors said.

On June 6, Miles Dixon, 17, Robert Anderson, 18, Kamarv Whetstone, 30, and Alton Howell, 33, pulled a car in front of the mailbox at roughly 2:30 p.m., a criminal complaint said.

While Dixon used a postal key to try to open the mailbox, Anderson and Whetstone got out of the car and stood in the middle of the street to act as lookouts, a witness told police.

Dixon managed to pull out multiple letters containing checks that totaled more than $3,000, prosecutors said. But before they could drive away, officers arrived at the scene and recovered the checks, the complaint said.

All four men were arraigned on charges of grand larceny, criminal tampering in the first degree, criminal possession of stolen property, and possession of burglar's tools, prosecutors said.

Anderson and Dixon were released under supervision, and Howell was released without bail. The judge set bail for Whetstone to $7,500 cash or bond, which he paid on June 9.

They're all due back in court on July 20.

Howell's attorney declined to comment, and Whetstone's attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

Attorney information for Anderson and Dixon was not immediately available.

U.S. Postal Investigation Service spokeswoman Donna Harris confirmed the arrest but said "the manner in which the mail was stolen is part of our investigation, therefore no further details will be provided."

East Harlem residents have been facing similar theft, as more than $140,000 had been stolen from a dozen or more victims from August 2016 to early May.

► READ: Postal Detectives Flummoxed by Mail Thieves as 2 More Victims Come Forward