ARLINGTON, VA — A federal grand jury has indicted a man accused of stealing mail and Postal Service property in Arlington in April 2023, after investigators said police found him at Pentagon City Mall carrying a postal satchel containing residents' mail.
Bernard Delante Vance faces one count of theft of mail matter and one count of theft of property used by the Postal Service, according to the indictment filed Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria. Both counts concern alleged conduct on April 3, 2023.
The second count alleges the Postal Service property was worth no more than $1,000.
Vance was ordered to remain in custody Oct. 13 pending further court action, according to the court docket. His arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 4 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in Alexandria.
Arlington County police notified postal inspectors around 8 p.m. April 3, 2023, that Vance had been detained at Pentagon City Mall with a USPS satchel, a postal baseball cap and mail belonging to Arlington residents in the Columbia Pike area, Postal Inspector Carl Swanson wrote in an affidavit.
The affidavit describes approximately 50 pieces of mail, excluding bulk advertising, and parcels in the satchel. Some mail had been opened and separated into a plastic bag containing tax documents, banking correspondence and two personal checks for $1,000 and $200, Swanson wrote.
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Vance told officers he was a newly hired postal carrier and that the satchel and its contents belonged to him, according to the affidavit. Swanson wrote that Vance also described the mail as his "fan mail."
Inspectors verified that Vance was not a USPS employee, the affidavit states.
The carrier responsible for the mail told investigators his satchel disappeared from his postal vehicle while he delivered packages at an apartment complex in the 3700 block of Columbia Pike that evening, according to the affidavit.
The carrier identified personal items inside the recovered satchel and said the mail matched his route. He told investigators he had not opened the mail and that the plastic bag containing the checks did not belong to him.
The person who mailed the checks told investigators she had placed them in greeting cards that never reached their intended recipient in Arlington, according to the affidavit.
The court docket shows a criminal complaint and arrest warrant were filed in May 2023. It records Vance's arrest in the Western District of Virginia in September 2026 and an initial appearance in Alexandria on Oct. 2.
The supplied docket does not record a plea or trial outcome. The allegations against Vance have not been adjudicated in the provided records.
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