Flowery Branch Police arrested two men earlier this week after receiving a call from a postmaster indicating the suspects had tampered with and potentially stolen outgoing mail.
The call from the postmaster came on June 27 after he saw two men in a white Audi with out-of-state license plates stealing mail out of an outgoing mailbox in the post office parking lot.
The postmaster went out to the mailbox after the suspects left and found that a box had been shoved into the blue mailbox, preventing dropped-off mail from falling down to the bottom, according to Flowery Branch Police Chief Chris Hulsey.
Officers found the suspects and initiated a traffic stop, where they found over $1 million worth of stolen checks. The department currently believes approximately 40 people are victims in the case, Hulsey said Friday.
The mail was taken from various jurisdictions in the Northeast Georgia area.
The men, later identified as Xavier Jackson and Aaron Jackson, both of California, were arrested for alleged stolen mail and possession of a Schedule One drug. The drugs found on the scene are believed to be Xanax, according to Hulsey, but official tests have not yet been completed.
Other charges are still pending in the ongoing investigation, including the possibility of identity theft, stolen property and more.
Both suspects were taken to the Hall County Jail, and as of the last report, both suspects have bonded out of jail. The United States Postal Inspection Service is assisting with the investigation.
“They [USPIS] kind of explained it that once these guys steal the mail, on that check is the account number, the name, address and they'll sell that information to somebody else that can use that and get that money,” Hulsey said.
Images of the two suspects can be seen in the above photo gallery, provided courtesy of the Hall County Sheriff's Office.
