JURUPA VALLEY: Months-long mail theft investigation results in 4 arrests

JURUPA VALLEY – Riverside County Sheriff’s officials arrested four Corona residents Thursday, Oct. 27. The arrests came after a months-long investigation into mail thefts in the cities of Norco and Eastvale, according to Riverside Sheriff’s Sergeant Justin Rowan. The four alleged suspects were located and arrested at a residence in the 800 Block of Rock Ridge Court in Corona.

During the last several months, residents throughout the cities of Norco and Eastvale have been victimized by mail thefts; both from their mailboxes and from parcels stolen from the victims’ porches. These thefts resulted in monetary losses and countless incidents of identity theft.

The department’s Special Enforcement Team from the cities of Norco and Eastvale, with assistance from investigators assigned to the Jurupa Valley Station and federal agents from the United States Postal Inspector Service conducted an extensive investigation, resulting in the identification and arrest of the four Corona residents as alleged mail theft suspects.

The investigation resulted in the search warrant being served at the Corona residence at 10 a.m.

The suspects, all residents of Corona, were identified as Christopher Hyman, 50, Cerrise Sturgeon, 38, Michael Lankford, 29, and Kayla Morrison, 23.

During the investigation and service of the search warrant, deputies located numerous pieces of mail, personal checks, payroll checks and identification cards stolen from the cities of Norco, Eastvale, Corona, and Lake Elsinore.

In addition to the stolen property, deputies located numerous pieces of equipment and tools used by identity and mail theft suspects.

Hyman, Sturgeon, Lankford, and Morrison were all at the residence during the service of the search warrant and were arrested without incident. They were later booked into jail at the Robert Presley Detention Center for numerous theft related crimes including theft of mail, possession of stolen property, fictitious checks, forgery and burglary tools, according to Rowan.

 

Riverside County Sheriff’s officials have stated they will be vigilant in investigating all crimes of this nature. Their investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with additional information to contact Deputy Arturo Mendez at the Norco Sheriff’s Office at (951) 270-5673. Citizens may also submit a tip using the Sheriff’s CrimeTips online form.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.