Family of 3 arrested in string of mail theft and identity fraud cases in Travis County
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - The Travis County Sheriff's Office has arrested a family of three in connection with a string of organized mail theft and identity fraud crimes.
Father and mother, Adam and Amy Liveoak, and their adult son Andrew are now facing a first-degree felony Theft of Mail ID Info and Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity charges.
Investigators say the Liveoaks stole mail containing victims' personal ID and credit card information.
Travis County detectives conducted search warrants and found burglary tools, illegally manufactured keys, drug paraphernalia, and large folders of personal information belonging to various individuals.
Whether your mail goes to a neighborhood cluster box or directly to your own residential mailbox, anyone can become a target of mail theft.
Residents in Southeast Austin are thankful the people accused of stealing their mail have been arrested.
Mail theft has been up in Austin and community members are hoping these arrests will help with the problem.
Angelique Klingemann’s birthday package and credit card went missing.
"It makes me feel very violated," resident Angelique Klingemann said.
Now she knows who may have stolen them. Most of the mail found was from Klingemann’s neighborhood in Southeast Austin.
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Court records show the mother, and her friend, were seen on surveillance footage trying to use stolen cards at an H-E-B, and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office started investigating.
Detectives utilized a mobile tracking device on the family’s vehicle and found the suspects were stopping at multiple locations throughout Austin where community mailboxes were.
The first search showed the car stopped at more than 10 community mailboxes in Southeast Austin in just one week. Investigators said the mailboxes were severely damaged, either broken or pried open to the point they couldn’t be locked anymore.
"It’s not a good feeling, you know, it feels like, are they there all the time?" Klingemann said.
Court documents said investigators searched the trashcan outside the home the family was staying at and found hundreds of pieces of opened and unopened USPS mail belonging to different addresses and people. They also found a USPS package parcel key, meth, fentanyl, and prescription medication belonging to someone else.
"It’s scary because it’s like who’s doing this? I’m glad that they are no longer able to do this to over 100 families. And so now it was a family, a husband, wife, and their child involving them in this. It’s not good. That’s, that’s very sad," Klingemann said.
The Liveoak family have a history with crime. The mother has been charged with more than 20 felonies in Travis County including convictions for forgery of a financial instrument, credit card abuse, possession and manufacturing/delivering of a controlled substance, theft, and more.
The father now has two felony charges, and the son has four in Travis County. They’re all facing first-degree felony theft of mail ID info and engaging in organized criminal activity charges.
"I’m just glad that I guess I don’t have to wonder, check every day if my, what’s going to be in the mailbox is going to be there because when it’s not, and it doesn’t add up, it’s like really," Klingemann said.
TCSO tips to prevent mail theft:
- Collect your mail daily
- Don't send cash in the mail
- Don't leave outgoing mail overnight in a mailbox
- It's best to drop off outgoing mail that contains a check at your local post office
- Deliver valuable items to your work or request a hold for pickup at your local post office
- If you'll be out of town, request your local post office to hold your mail until you return
- Be observant
If you see someone stealing your mail, call 911. If the crime has already happened and the suspects are gone, call non-emergency dispatch at 512-974-0845, option 3.
Officials say if this happens to you, you must also report the crime to the United States Postal Inspection Service at www.postalinspectors.uspis.gov or call 1-877-2455.