3 arrested in alleged mail thefts
EASLEY — The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has arrested three people accused of being involved in a mail theft ring in the Dacusville and Easley area.
Charged in the case were 30-year-old Christina Marie Epps, 24-year-old Cheyanne Marie Holland and 26-year-old Joshua Paul Jackson.
According to chief deputy Creed Hashe, officers investigating several incidents of mail theft and suspicious activity at residential mailboxes identified the three as suspects, and the investigation is still ongoing, as information suggests others may have also been involved.
The incidents cleared up as a result of the arrests, according to Hashe, include a Jan. 21 incident in which mail was stolen from a mailbox on Old Dacusville Road and checks were forged, as well as thefts from mailboxes on Clear Dawn Drive on Feb. 14 and Hollywood Drive on Feb. 15.
Arrested Feb. 15, Epps, of 139 Silvery Lane in Liberty, is charged with simple larceny and receiving and possession of stolen property. She was being held at the Pickens County Detention Center on Tuesday on more than $10,000 bond for the two charges and three other unrelated counts.
Jackson, of 222 Thomas Mill Road in Easley, was arrested on Feb. 19 and charged with forgery. He was still being held Tuesday on a combined $8,000 surety bond for the forgery charge and a probation violation.
Holland, of 7707 Moorefield Memorial Highway in Liberty, was still at large when Hashe issued his first news release on the mail thefts last Friday. Late that night, deputies learned she was at a home in Norris, where she was found and taken into custody. She was released the following day on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
“We continue to encourage our citizens to avoid placing outgoing mail in a residential mailbox due to the risks associated with identity theft and the ability to forge checks,” sheriff Rick Clark said. “These thieves get up every morning and go to work just like you and I, except their job is riding around and looking for the checks that you have written to pay your bills.
“When you pull up that red flag to alert your postal person of documents for them to pick up, it is a signal for a thief to steal your mail. Please, if at all possible, protect yourself by hand-delivering your items to the postal carrier or simply using another method of mailing your correspondence.”