Man and woman arrested for stealing mail

BUFFALO, N.Y.–U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Alexandria E. Duncan, 22, of West Seneca, NY, and Timothee S. Tidwell, 25, of Buffalo, NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail theft, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright, who is handling the case, stated that in October 2024, law enforcement began focusing on specific U.S. Postal Service blue collection box locations that were identified as being regular targets of suspected mass mail theft. One location was adjacent to 35 Main Street, and a second was a small shopping plaza on Sunset Drive, across Camp Road, both in Hamburg, NY.

Between October 9, 2024 through October 12, 2024, law enforcement observed an individual, later identified as Tidwell, use a key to access a mailbox outside 35 Main Street in Hamburg. On October 14, 2024, a Village of Hamburg Police officer on patrol observed Duncan drop off Tidwell near the entrance to the Hamburg Post Office on Camp Road. She then drove to a gas station across the street and parked. The officer approached the vehicle and activated his patrol vehicle police lights. As he did this, Tidwell fled from the are of the mailboxes into a nearby wooded area behind the post office. Investigators executed a search warrant on the vehicle, recovering various opened and unopened mail taken from the mailboxes that did not belong to Duncan or Tidwell.

Later in the day on October 14, 2024, a witness contacted the Town of Hamburg Police to report a suspicious encounter with an individual, later identified as Tidwell, earlier that morning. The witness stated that Tidwell came into the witness’ business seeking shelter. He was soaking wet and muddy, teeth chattering, and requested a cup of coffee. According to the witness, Tidwell stated that he has a key, was at the post office, and told the witness not to put anything in “those boxes” because they are not secure. Tidwell then used the business’s phone, and later, Duncan came and picked Tidwell up. That same day, Duncan’s father posted a Facebook message on the Town of Hamburg Police Department’s Facebook page, stating that his daughter was arrested for mail fraud and that her boyfriend abandoned her while she was getting arrested.

Duncan and Tidwell made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and were released on conditions.

The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Village of Hamburg Police, under the direction of Chief Richard Schara, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Ketty Larco Ward, Boston Division.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.   

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