On 8/19/2021, a late mail theft was reported at the Gleneden Beach Post Office. Video surveillance footage was provided to us which showed a man entering the post office earlier the night prior and later exiting with a large bag. Postal Service employees and customers arrived in the morning to find multiple P.O. boxes were broken into and mail missing. Through deductive reasoning, deputies came to the conclusion that male seen in the video was likely involved in the theft of the mail.
Several days later on 08/21, the property owner responsible for the Gleneden Beach Post Office and surrounding businesses recognized the suspect from the surveillance footage on foot in the area just North of the Post Office on Gleneden Beach Loop. Deputies responded and identified Joseph Story as the suspect. Joseph was detained as deputies reviewed the security footage and were able to positively identify Joseph from the video. When Joseph was arrested, he was still wearing the same outfit he was seen in the video wearing. A search of Joseph’s person revealed he was in possession of a small handheld pry bar.
According to the postmaster, a preliminary 83 P.O. boxes were affected and/or damaged in the commission of the theft. Of those 83 P.O. boxes, mail from 51 P.O. boxes addressed to 66 individual recipients was recovered by law enforcement not far from where Joseph was arrested. Deputies spent most of the morning sorting through the mail and documenting whose mail was recovered from which P.O. boxes. Some mail was opened, and it is possible there is additional mail unaccounted for. All found mail will be returned to the Gleneden Beach Post Office for re-delivery.
According to the surveillance footage, Joseph was accompanied by another suspect who has yet to to be identified. Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is asking the public too\ view the photo (posted above) and call 541-265-0777 and refer to case # 21S-01656 if you recognize the second suspect. Joseph was lodged at the Lincoln County Jail for Mail Theft, Criminal Mischief 1st Degree, Possession of Burglary Tools, and Criminal Conspiracy. The Sheriff's office is working in conjunction with the United States Postal Inspection Service which is a federal law enforcement agency tasked with investigating crimes involving mail and/or the United States Postal Service.
