2 South Bay Mail Theft Suspects Arrested

SUNNYVALE, CA — Two South Bay mail theft suspects were arrested over the weekend, authorities said.

Tamara Garcia and Derek Hopson were arrested on suspicion of multiple charges including mail theft, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and possession of burglary tools, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

Officers at around 2:20 a.m. Saturday responding to the 300 block of Santa Diana Terrace on the report of two people stealing mail from mailboxes arrived on scene as the suspects were attempting to flee in their vehicle, police said.

A check of the suspects revealed that Garcia had an outstanding fully extraditable, felony warrant out of Texas for fraud, police said.

Officers during a search of the suspect vehicle found hundreds of pieces of mail, burglary tools, shaved postal service keys, stolen property, and drug paraphernalia, police said.

Officers determined the suspects were staying at local motel at the 800 block of E El Camino Real and conducted a search of their room in which they located additional stolen mail and a loaded FN Five-Seven (a semi-automatic pistol) firearm.

The officers also discovered that the vehicle they were driving was also stolen.

“Great work by vigilant community members for calling to report this and by our officers for a thorough investigation,” the agency said.

“Our community members are often our extra set of eyes and ears.”