Maria Weeks {BSO}
By Kevin Deutsch
An alleged mailbox burglar was found hiding from police in an SUV after she and another thief broke into a cluster of mailboxes in Coconut Creek Thursday morning, authorities said.
Officers uncovered the crime after responding to the 4400 block of Carambola Circle South, where the pair of alleged burglars had set off the 911 caller’s car alarm, Coconut Creek Police said on X.
During their investigation, officers saw a “suspicious man hiding behind a cluster of mailboxes” in the condominium community, police said. The mailboxes were all open. The burglar took off once he saw officers, leaving behind a dark-colored SUV parked nearby, police said.
Inside the SUV, officers said they found Maria Weeks, 20, of Sunrise, hiding in the backseat, along with a child. Police said they found a large amount of stolen mail in the SUV’s trunk and a loaded handgun inside the vehicle.
Weeks was arrested and charged with burglary, grand theft, and contributing to child delinquency, according to court records. A family member took the child, police said.
Officers conducted an “extensive search” of the area for Weeks’ accomplice, but he was not found, police said.
Weeks was taken to the Broward County Jail. Bond information for her case was not available.
Police said the mail theft investigation is ongoing.
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