Teens charged after police find USPS mailbox key, stolen mail during traffic stop in Oakwood

OAKWOOD — Two teens are facing charges after Oakwood police found a United States Postal Office key and stolen mail inside of their car during a traffic stop.

An Oakwood officer spotted a black sedan on Far Hills Blvd. and noticed it didn’t have any vehicle registration on it. After following the car, the officer pulled it over for a traffic stop near the intersection of E. Shantz and E. Dixon Avenues.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police find USPS mailbox key during traffic stop in Oakwood

The officer walked up the car and saw two teens, 18-year-olds Anthony Parks and Kyon Reese, inside. In a public safety report, the officer noted a smell of marijuana coming from the car.

During the traffic stop, the officer asked both teens to exit the vehicle and a search was conducted.

While searching the back of the car, the officer found open and unopened packages and postage envelopes.

“I noted that the sender addresses and names differed from one package/envelope to another. Also, the receiving addresses and names were different,” the officer noted in the report.

Dozens of additional envelopes and mail were also found in a glove-box, as well as “several checks” addressed to several different people.

The officer added that none of the packages, envelopes, mail or checks were to or from either of the teens in the car.

When talking to the two teens about what was found in the car, they both denied knowing anything about the items. The driver told police he had just bought the car and the packages were in there when he bought it.

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Both Parks and Reese were arrested for receiving stolen property. Parks was also charged with a possession of drugs charge, according to Oakwood Municipal Court records.

After their arrests, an officer later found a USPS mailbox key, otherwise known as an “arrow” key, in between one of Reese’s cell phones and the phone case.

The “arrow” key can open all blue mail boxes outside of post offices.

A spokesperson for the Oakwood Public Safety Department previously told News Center 7 that police have been in contact with the postal inspector and that the case may be turned over to them and handled at the federal level.

In the last year, News Center 7′s I-Team has also tracked cases of thieves getting into the boxes and stealing people’s mail in Dayton, Trotwood, Kettering, Centerville, Huber Heights and Washington Township.

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