8/5/2022 1:47:00 PM
Felony charges filed for alleged mail thefts in Chisago County
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A man and woman, both 22 years old, are facing felony charges in regards to theft of items and documents from mailboxes in Chisago County and a number of other areas, according to the Chisago County Attorney’s office which filed the charges last week. Each count could result in a three year sentence and a fine of $500.
Rafael Francisco Castro, of Orlando, Florida has two felony counts against him and Alexis Schnacky, St. Paul, has one count of felony intentionally removing mail.
They were stopped July 26 by a Wyoming Police Officer who was acting on a tip. Authorities forwarded the message from someone who reported a white SUV going slowly stopping at mail receptacles in the 270th Street area. The caller said the vehicle appeared to be grabbing mail out of boxes.
When stopped in Wyoming City, at Fenwick and 270th, the people in the SUV told the officer they were staying at a Lindstrom motel and were in the Wyoming area looking for “the smoke shop.” They denied having anything to do with the suspicious activity reported.
When the officer had one suspect step out of the vehicle, he observed pieces of mail in the car, in a box and in a suitcase.
Two days later, July 28, after the parties had been detained, an administrator at the county jail reported access to phone dialogue by Castro that seemed to support the investigation.
There was a search warrant executed at Lakeview Motel, Lindstrom. The criminal complaint states hundreds of pieces of mail, documents, personal checks, etc. were located from local addresses, from around the state and from Florida during the search.
A Chisago County investigator who had been looking into recent reports of items stolen from mailboxes in Chisago Lake Township North and Lent Township verified that some motel items seized (personal products, in-home natural gas detector) matched mailed items reported missing.
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