Suspect in Seattle mail truck and postal key thefts arrested on federal charges

A man believed to be behind a string of mail thefts, including stealing five mail trucks, is in custody and appeared in front of a federal judge.

Officials arrested Johny Mixayboua early Wednesday after a short foot chase in Seattle. His alleged thefts also racked up over $7,000 in credit card charges, on cards meant for other people.

Investigators said it took them a number of months and lot of man hours to find the person they believe is responsible.

Court documents show the first mail truck was stolen late December, which is a big deal in itself, said investigators.

“What’s less common is to have a case like this where a vehicle was stolen and keys were used to access widespread mail banks,” said U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Nick Brown.

That string of thefts is believed to have started with the first mail truck stolen from south Seattle on Dec. 28, 2022. The spree lasted for months with four other mail trucks stolen and a number of mail boxes cleared out.

“Zip code 98118 had to be shut down for a period of a week or so, impacting hundreds of individuals who rely on the mail system to receive their checks, their debit cards, things like that,” explained Assistant U.S. Attorney Elyne Vaught. “This is the first time that I’ve seen cases where a cluster box unit was broken into but no damage present, indicating that a postal key was used instead of a hammer or crowbar.”

“They must figure there’s enough people who’re still getting checks in the mail or maybe their new credit card and debit card,” said Stephanie Martin, who lives in that zip code and had her cluster box broken into.

Mixayboua was arrested Wednesday morning and made his first appearance in federal court by the afternoon.

“I myself have been involved in this investigation since the beginning and it was a lot of man hours put into this,” said U.S. Postal Inspector John Wiegand.

Investigators found all five stolen mail trucks shortly after they went missing but most of the parcels were gone. It’s the same story with the cluster boxes at apartment complexes; the master keys that opens those cluster boxes are usually kept in mail trucks, and with each alleged theft also came doorbell footage from people whose mail went missing.

“She must have been a master lock that she was able to open and in doing that both of these doors opened and gave her access to all of our mail,” said Stephanie.

“With mail theft generally it’s a crime to commit some kind of financial crime … people aren’t looking for the card from grandma that says ‘Happy birthday,’ they’re looking for that card from grandma that says “Happy birthday’ and has a check in it,” explained Wiegand.

A number of credit cards were taken and used. The charges court documents say Mixayboua made add up to over $7,000. Those same court documents also show a woman cashed a $3,300 check that was being transported on one of the stolen mail trucks tied to Mixayboua. He was also seen at her house by investigators. Each time Mixabouya allegedly used credit cards stolen from the mail, store surveillance caught his image with each swipe

“We often measure about harm in a monetary value, like how many purchases were made on somebody’s credit card, but we don’t know what else may have been taken. A birthday card, a letter from a loved one, anything like that,” said Brown.

Investigators shared those surveillance images with other law enforcement agencies in hopes that someone know who the man pictured was. The Department of Corrections ultimately said the tattoos and skin discoloration of the man pictured matched up with Mixayboua’s previous booking photo.

“It could be viewed as a sophisticated scheme but it can also be viewed as a crime of opportunity, seeing a truck, stealing a truck. It worked before, I’m going to do it again. We don’t know, it’s so early in the process, in the investigation,” said Vaught.

The complaints filed against Mixayboua are mail theft and possession of stolen mail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 7 at 1 p.m. Investigators are still trying to identify any other people possibly involved.

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