Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 4
Authorities Investigate Thefts from Mailbox • Drive-Thru Dispensary Coming to Town • Legislation Threatens Coppell’s Revenues • Office Approved at End of Residential Street
This week’s edition begins with two big stories from a single intersection. Given the newsworthiness of these articles, I thought about sending this edition to my free subscribers. But those folks know the deal — they could easily become paid subscribers like you.
Authorities Investigate Thefts from Mailbox
Several checks have been stolen from the drive-up mailbox outside Coppell’s post office.
After seeing anecdotal reports of such thievery on social media, I contacted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for concrete details. Postal Inspector Paul Ecker confirmed that his agency is working with the Coppell Police Department to investigate a series of thefts that began in 2024 and continued into the new year.
“Exact details of the investigation cannot be disclosed at this time,” Ecker said via email last week. “Fortunately, that’s because there have been some significant developments in the case we are confident will provide a resolution to these offenses.”
I also submitted an open records request to the Coppell Police Department, asking for all incident reports associated with the post office’s address (450 S. Denton Tap Road) since Jan. 1, 2024. I received 12 reports on incidents that happened between Dec. 20, 2024, and Jan. 26, 2025. The narrative sections were redacted on all but one of the reports.
The narrative on that unredacted report says a Coppell man used the drive-up mailbox to send a check to his insurance company on Dec. 20. The amount he wrote on the check was $537.60. Three days later, he received an overdraft notification because someone had altered the check’s amount to $4,800.60, which was more than the man had in his account. The thief had also replaced the insurance company’s name with the name of an individual, using a method known as check washing.
The offense on the unredacted report was fraud, which was also the offense on 10 of the 11 other reports. I made contact with seven of those victims, because their names and phone numbers were not redacted. These seven Coppell residents all confirmed that they had reported stolen checks and that they had placed those checks in the drive-up mailbox.
One man told me his $8,800 check to cover his property taxes had been stolen, and the Dallas County Tax Office declined to waive the late penalty he incurred. A woman told me her property-taxes check had also been stolen, but she discovered the theft — via the image of the cashed check on her bank’s website — in time to avoid a penalty.
“I write only two or three checks per year,” she said, “but I think I’ve written my last one.”
There are probably other victims out there, because this article was inspired by a Facebook post from a woman who said her insurance payment was stolen, and her name was not on any of the incident reports I received. Eckert said anyone who thinks they may have been affected should contact the Postal Inspection Service via 877-876-2455 or the agency’s website, which includes tips on crime prevention.
“While we can’t prevent every crime from occurring,” Eckert said, “postal inspectors will always provide complaints with investigative attention, and we value the tremendous help from our fellow law enforcement agencies.”
Drive-Thru Dispensary Coming to Town
Right across Bethel School Road from the drive-up mailbox, a new business is about to offer drive-thru service for a controversial product: hemp.