Arrest made in metro mailbox thefts and check ‘washing’

By Cathy Cobbs

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department has charged a 19-year-old man with multiple counts of financial identity fraud, which the victims believe are related to a rash of mail thefts in the metro area, including Dunwoody.

T. Rene Rodriguez, who had mailed a check at a post office located at the corner of Trowbridge and Roswell Roads in Sandy Springs, said he received a phone call from a detective with the Fayette County Sheriff’s office on Jan. 25, saying that the authorities had the check in their possession.

Rodriguez said the officer, whom he identified as David Gunter, said authorities had arrested a 19-year-old man who had in his possession more than $1 million in stolen checks, as well as a master key to the post office’s so-called “blue boxes.”

“I was really surprised because I didn’t even know that the check had been stolen since it was less than a week since I had mailed it,” Rodriguez said. “You just don’t expect a call like that.”

Rodriguez said he was impressed by Gunter’s “strong sense of justice” regarding the case.

“He told me that the person who they arrested was going to go away for a really long time,” he said.

Rodriguez said he posted the account on the social network Nextdoor. It has received more than 20,000 views, and almost 100 comments, most of whom were highly complimentary of the detective’s work in apprehending the suspect.

Fayette County Sheriff’s department released the arrest report and little other information about the suspect, identified as Hakeem Isaiah Lewis of Fayetteville. He has been charged with one count of theft by possession of stolen mail, 13 counts of financial identity fraud, and one count of printing fictitious checks.

The booking report, which was released after the Dunwoody Reporter filed a Freedom of Information act, does not include any other details about the case, aside from a list of the charges against Lewis. A spokesperson for the department said the incident report, which would include additional details, is not yet available. He said that there is no definite release date for that information.

Federal and local authorities have been investigating a rash of mail theft and check “washing” that has been occurring in the area for the past few months.

In Dunwoody alone, there have been nearly 50 reported incidents totaling more than $500,000 involving checks being stolen, altered and cashed, often for thousands of dollars more than the original value.