Why A Postal Worker Stole A Child's Letter To Santa

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A mail worker is facing charges for stealing cash and gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — including one letter addressed to Santa.

Darlene Washington, a resident of Queens, confessed to stealing around $1,200 a week in cash, gift cards and lotto tickets for the past four years, CBS2 reported. She had been working at the United States Postal Service's Midtown Manhattan mail processing center on West 34th Street.

Postal inspectors grew suspicious of Washington when purchases made with a stolen Amazon gift card were tracked to her Queens home, the New York Post reported. An inspector then observed Washington stealing the contents of mail she was sorting on multiple occasions, according to the Post's report.

Days after the inspectors witnessed the thefts, Washington confessed to postal inspectors that she schemed to steal $100 to $300 per night since 2014, the Post reported.

As to why she swiped the letter headed for the North Pole? Apparently Washington liked the stickers the child included on the envelope and wanted them for herself, CBS2 reported.

Talk about a Grinch.

Despite being caught stealing mail Washington is still somehow on the postal service's payroll but in a position where she is "not interacting with the mail in any capacity," the service told CBS2.

Photo by André-Pierre du Plessis via Flickr/Creaive commons.