On Aug. 18 at approximately 4:50 a.m., an officer stopped a vehicle for a license plate violation at Foothill and Raymond in La Crescenta. The driver, identified as 40-year-old Ivan Figueroa of Los Angeles, had a suspended license and an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

While the officer was questioning Figueroa, he noticed a passenger, identified as 29-year-old Yesenia Prado of Los Angeles, trying to conceal a large amount of mail with a sweater. The occupants, including two additional passengers, were detained pending further investigation relating to possible mail theft.

A vehicle search revealed a black notepad containing names of unknown persons, account information, social security numbers, tools, knives, sharp objects and a “fishing” device commonly used to steal mail from US Post Office mail boxes was located in the passenger area. At the conclusion of the investigation, approximately 80 pieces of mail addressed to 23 different addresses with 40 victims were seized as evidence.

A pat-down search of Yesenia revealed a loaded .32 automatic firearm with seven rounds concealed in her bra. Further investigation revealed the firearm was reported stolen out of Mercer County.

All four occupants were arrested and booked for identity theft. Yesenia was booked for carrying a concealed weapon in addition to identity theft.

The case remains under investigation by detectives.

The US Postal Inspection Service provides tips to help prevent mail theft: https://bit.ly/1AG3FG8.