Man facing forgery charges for alleged mail theft in Hughes Springs

HUGHES SPRINGS, Texas (KLTV) - A case of mail theft in a small East Texas community has one man in jail on forgery charges.

The theft happened earlier this week in the Hughes Springs area, as a homeowner had a number of personal checks stolen from her mailbox.

it was Tuesday that Hughes Springs police received a report of mail theft just south of the city limits.

“The woman was expecting some personal checks in the mail. She was not sure whether her checks had been delivered or not, and she was real concerned that they had been,” said Hughes Springs Police Chief Randy Kennedy.

On Thursday some of those checks, for hundreds of dollars, were passed at a Daingerfield bank, signed by 27-year-old Rakeem Chandler of Mount Vernon, a man police were familiar with.

"He does have a criminal history for numerous forgeries, been in trouble for that before," the chief says.

In a stroke of luck, as Kennedy was searching for the suspect, he didn’t have to look any further than the third drive-through lane at the local bank.

Security video shows Chandler pulling into the Hughes Springs bank drive through.

“Got a call from the bank saying that an individual had pulled up into the third lane and was wanting to cash one of my victim’s checks.” Kennedy says.

The chief calmly blocked Chandler’s car in the drive through with his patrol unit, cutting off his escape.

“He said I couldn’t arrest him, that I didn’t have a warrant, and I explained to him I didn’t have to have a warrant. He was in the commission of a crime and in possession of stolen checks and was under arrest,” Randy says.

Kennedy has been in contact with the U.S. Postal Service to determine whether any of the recent mail thefts may be connected to a larger operation.

So far only Rakeem Chandler has been arrested in this case.

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