Mail, Identity Thefts In Napa Area Affect Nearly 200: Police

NAPA - Nearly 200 Napa City and County residents may be affected by a large scale mail and identity theft ring broken up by Napa police.

Napa authorities say they have charged a 30-year-old woman with multiple felonies in a case that may have compromised the personal identity information of almost 200 North Bay residents.

(Editor's note: Patch has included two maps of the City and County of Napa with the highest concentration of identified victims according to police.)

Oakland resident Corrinne Marie Billette was charged with multiple counts of Felony Identity Theft and Mail Theft according to Napa police.

Police say they received word on April 19, 2016 from a local citizen reporting he had been notified of a credit card that had been opened in his name without his authorization.

Based on the reported identity theft, Napa police detectives say an investigation led them to a residence in Oakland where on May 12, a search warrant was served with the assistance of Oakland Police at a residence in the 6900 block of Snake Drive.

Police say during the search, a large amount of stolen mail was located. The mail was from all over the northern Bay Area, but police say a "significant amount" appeared to be from Napa County.

Napa police say the mail was dated from March through April, 2016.

Based on their questioning of Billette, police say an Alameda storage locker was also searched, and additional large containers of mail were found and taken as evidence.

Police also believe that based on information gathered during the search warrant, "active attempts to steal the victims’ identities to open new banking and credit accounts was happening with in some cases."

With help from the Napa Police Volunteer Program, police say they identified just under two hundred known Napa County and City residents who were victims of mail theft.

In addition, police say they have recovered mail from twenty-two other California cities and three separate states.

Napa police say they mailed letters on May 19 to the identified Napa City and County victims, notifying them of the investigation.

Included in the letters was a questionnaire police are requesting be sent back to them via fax, email, or brought to the police department to assist in the continuing investigation.

Police say it is possible there are additional victims who may have not yet been identified. They ask that you share this information.

Napa police encourage anyone who may have been the victim of this crime to closely monitor credit card and bank accounts as well as information provided by the three credit reporting agencies.

You can contact Napa police at (707) 257-9223.

-images via ShutterStock, Napa Police Department