Porch piracy and mail thefts increasing in Niwot and Gunbarrel

A concerning trend has emerged in Niwot and Gunbarrel, with an increase in "porch piracy" and mail thefts. Criminal activity is targeting both residences and institutions, including Niwot United Methodist Church.

A Niwot resident was walking his dog early in the morning of Tuesday, April 29, when he came upon seven Boulder County Sheriff's patrol cars. Deputies were responding to a call notifying them that a woman had passed out in a parked car on Greenwood Drive in Niwot.

According to a Sheriff's office media advisory communication released later that day, "31-year-old Brittney Enwall was arrested on charges of theft of mail, possession of burglary tools, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence of drugs, and unlawful possession of amphetamines." The multiple charges resulted from the discovery of "numerous pieces of mail inside the vehicle, including letters and unopened packages from nearby homes that were not addressed to or owned by Enwall."

Detectives returned the stolen mail and packages to the victims' residences and assessed the value of each item. Additional property recovered from the vehicle included bicycles and computer equipment, whose owners have not yet been identified, and which the officers believe may have been stolen.

This is not an isolated incident. Frequent security videos of instances of stolen mail and packages are regularly reported on Nextdoor and other social media platforms. Some thieves appear to be working alone, but others have become more organized and sophisticated in their tactics.

One target has been Niwot United Methodist Church, located on Lookout Road in Gunbarrel. In mid to late summer 2024, the church was contacted by a bank in San Antonio, Texas, requesting permission to cash a check that was made out to the church. Jim Whitney, the church's Finance Committee Chair, was told that a person walked up to the bank counter and presented an unendorsed check.

Whitney began an investigation that revealed startling information. Over a period of months, a total of $7500-8000 of parishioner checks meant as donations to the church had been stolen and cashed. Because donations do not arrive according to a predictable schedule, the church remained unaware of the problem and its extent.

The checks were cashed fraudulently, and without having been endorsed. It was only after considerable effort on the part of the church and the donors that the missing funds were reimbursed.

The church replaced its mailbox more than once with sturdier, lockable models, but thieves continued to break into them. Whitney is having mail held for now and is picking it up every few days. Soon the church will likely decide whether to spend $200 to $300 per month for a more convenient post office box, funds they hoped to use for other church purposes.

A post office box will reduce the number of checks stolen from mailboxes, but it will not eliminate a much larger problem occurring regionally and nationally.

Thefts also occur between the time that donors mail their checks and when the checks are deposited into mailboxes. Mail theft rings based in Denver and Longmont are suspected of using co-conspirators within the postal and banking systems to obtain the checks and move them to banks, which cash them, unendorsed. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has not responded to requests for an investigation into the church's mail thefts.