Crime & Safety
Murrieta Man Accused of Being 'Sticky Mail Bandit'
Corona police took the accused "sticky bandits" into custody shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday when a string—with a sticky substance at the end of it—was allegedly found hanging from a mailbox.
A Murrieta man was among two people arrested early Tuesday for allegedly fishing mail out of a postal mailbox in Corona.
A Corona police officer saw two people standing near an outdoor postal mailbox in front of the post office on California Avenue around 3 a.m. When they saw the officer, they got into a car and started to drive away.
The officer stopped the car and detained them, according to Corona police.
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"Officers checked the mailbox the subjects were standing in front of and found a string hanging out the mail slot. On the other end of the string, there was a sticky substance which was used to fish mail out," according to a police statement.
Michael Barkdull, 32, of Murrieta and Steve Watson, 26, of Riverside were arrested on suspicion of mail theft, according to police, who alleged that stolen mail was found in the suspects' vehicle.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, Barkdull and Watson were both being held in lieu of $5,000 bail at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, and due for arraignment on Thursday.
—City News Service and Maggie Avants contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: The outcome of these allegations, as well as the facts, may change as the case progresses through the legal system. Not all details of each investigation are made public. All items are alleged to have occurred. There should be no assumption of guilt.
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