Residents in northwest Fresno neighborhood irritated with mail service

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Getting your mail delivered on a consistent basis is something most of us all take for granted.

But that's not the case for residents in one Northwest Fresno neighborhood.

"It's a hassle. We want to get our mail where we live," Chelsy said, a Fresno resident.

Chelsy is at her wits end. According to her, the letter carrier for her neighborhood stopped delivering mail after crooks pried open the back of their mailbox cluster over the summer.

Homeowners are now forced to drive to the post office to pick up their mail.

"We don't want to drive 15 minutes and wait in 30-minute to an hour line and mail is still getting lost," Chelsy said. "They can't find our package so we go back a week later and, 'oh we found the package.'"

U.S. Postal Inspectors say they've now investigated the vandalism after seeing an uptick in these types of crimes across the state.

"Breaking into these cluster boxes is a federal offense, stealing the mail is a federal offense," Jeff Fitch said, a postal inspector.

It's a charge that comes with a potential five-year prison term and a $250k fine.

"This box has been hit more than once, and the thing we'll need to do is to work with the Post Master's office and the maintenance teams will have to come out and assess the damage," Fitch said.

But when neighbors will start receiving mail again is the bigger question.

Just one street over was another community mailbox that was also destroyed by thieves.

"I know it's happening everywhere but at the end of the day, the Post Office is trying to play catch up but when it's been six months," Chelsy said. It's a little ridiculous."