WINNEMUCCA - James Stanley Fahlgren, 44, of Reno, was arrested last week at the Winnemucca post office on suspicion of forgery and burglary after a lengthy investigation by the Winnemucca Police Department involving stolen money orders and other mail.
Fahlgren is a contract route driver (not employed by the U.S. Postal Service) who had been hauling mail between Reno and Winnemucca, with stops at Lovelock and Fernley, law enforcement officials said.
The case began when a stolen money order was reported on April 5 and Winnemucca Police Detective Mike Bunch took the report and opened an investigation.
WPD Sgt. Dave Garrison said they were able to determine that there were mail thefts occurring, but they didn't know if they were internal or external.
Investigators were able to obtain a subpoena and gather records from a Winnemucca bank, and Bunch was able to identify the suspect through video of him depositing four stolen money orders. He said he also obtained photos of over 20 altered money orders deposited into the suspect's account.
Bunch said he was able to positively identify the suspect on May 30 and reported it to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which, unbeknownst to the Winnemucca Police Department, had been carrying on its own investigation.
Prior to Bunch's contact with federal postal investigators, however, they did not know that thefts were occurring in Winnemucca, only in Imlay and Lovelock.
The USPS then sent 10 gift cards from Winnemucca to see if they made it to Reno. Eight of them did not, according to Bunch. In fact, five were used to purchase items in the Reno area.
Bunch said that on June 5 an arrest warrant was issued for four counts of forgery, and a search warrant was issued for Fahlgren's Reno residence on June 6.
A joint search was executed at the home by Winnemucca PD, Reno PD, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and between 500 and 1,000 stolen items were discovered in Netflix DVDs alone, according to Bunch.
In addition, Bunch said that gift cards and items purchased with gift cards were discovered.
The next step of the investigation came on June 7. Bunch said that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service followed Fahlgren from Reno and actually witnessed him steal mail in Lovelock.
Winnemucca police officers arrived at the Winnemucca post office and arrested Fahlgren at 7:30 a.m. and booked him on four counts of burglary and four counts of forgery, with bail set at $100,000.
Bunch said that the investigation is ongoing, federal charges are pending, and he expects multiple charges to be filed.
He said officials with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service have asked residents to let them know if they suspect that they are a victim of mail theft. The U.S. Postal Service Inspection hotline is (877) 876-2455.
Bunch said there are potentially many Winnemucca-area victims, but they do not know who they are yet. He asked that residents check that any money, money orders, or gift cards sent from Winnemucca (especially since November) made it to their final destination.[[In-content Ad]]
