Thieves Steal Holiday Mail From Gated Community

By Kyle Meenan First Coast News

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL -- The tranquil beauty of the Intracoastal Waterway extends into the quiet, safe streets of Marsh Landing Golf and Country Club.

Every vehicle coming into this community passes through security gates, and guards patrol the neighborhoods continuously.

But just outside Marsh Landing's East border is a chain-link, barbed-wire topped fence, with a gaping hole where a ten-foot long section has been pulled down.

This is where St. Johns County Deputies believe young thieves came in to the private neighborhood early Christmas morning.

A heads-up Marsh Landing Security Officer was driving on Linkside Circle just before dawn and found several pieces of mail scattered in the street.

According to a report from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, the guard soon spotted a young man carrying a BMX bicycle. The man reportedly dropped the bike and ran east over a wooded burm to the chain link fence.

The suspect got away, but the guard soon found more mail, two satellite radio receivers and a case of music CD's.

St. Johns Sheriff's Deputies were called to the scene.

Soon, according to the report, they discovered mailboxes on three to four different streets had been pilfered and at least two cars had items stolen.

In all, enough stolen mail was recovered to fill two garbage bags. Mail was recovered from the woods, the fenceline, and from the Dolphin Cove neighborhood just to the west of Marsh Landing.

Sergeant Chuck Mulligan with the St. John's County Sheriff's Office reminds everyone to keep their cars and garages closed and locked regardless of how safe a neighborhood appears to be.

This time the heads-up Marsh Landing Security was able to recover all of the stolen items, but there's no word how much mail is missing from the nearly 20 homes affected.

If the young suspects are caught, they could face Federal charges for tampering with the U.S. Mail.

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