INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Inver Grove Heights Police Department has recovered a large amount of stolen mail and wants residents in a specific area to check to see if they are missing any.
In the early morning hours of Thursday, Nov. 14, police officers observed a vehicle with a headlight out in the 7800 block of Concord Blvd.
Police pulled over a female driver, "who appeared nervous," according to a post on the Inver Grove Heights Police Department's Facebook page.
Officers discovered "mail strewn throughout the inside of the car."
Police officials said the woman admitted to driving around and stealing from mailboxes.
"The rest of our night shift tackled the herculean task of sorting the mail by name, recording those names, packaging/photographing for evidence, and documenting addresses for each piece of mail," the social post read.
Over 500 pieces of mail were estimated to be stolen from 161 victims.
Police want residents "within the area of Concord/78th" to check to see if they have not received any mail. Officials said the stolen mail was taken to the post office and will be "redistributed to all those impacted," according to the post.
The woman was arrested and taken to the Dakota County Jail to be held on charges relating to mail theft.
Mike Rouleau lives in the area and didn't know about the thefts until KARE 11 reporter Samie Solina talked with him.
"I would hope that we would get notified that this kind of thing was going on," he said. "Especially if it was so widespread and big as as what we're hearing."
Police says they are working to notify residents.