93-3-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

All right. Today is Tuesday, the 20th day of December. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning. Three men are in custody after police say they stole nearly 500 pieces of mail and led officers on a pursuit in Haverford last week. The incident started with an officer on patrol in Haverford Township around 1.30 in the morning. The officer spotted a car and a person near the mail collection box in the 1600 block of Darby Road.

The officer pulled the car over, but when the officer opened the door, the driver took off.

The driver led police on a chase through neighborhood roads, reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour, according to police.

After a few minutes of twist and turns, the suspects began throwing letters from the car littering the road with piles of envelopes.

Yeah, the vehicle crashed and stopped on Caracong Drive.

The first two suspects fled on foot and were later picked up by Lower Merion Police.

The third man was arrested at the crash scene.

Police say the suspects range in age from 18 to 22 years old.

Charges for the three include theft, recklessly endangering,

and fleeing from police. Police say nearly 500 pieces of mail were recovered along with a handgun

and two United States Postal Service bins. Police say this is not an isolated incident in that

they've had over 300 cases in one year, adding that they believe the suspects likely had a key to this mailbox.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says a number of carriers have been held up for keys in

recent months, including one in Kensington earlier this month.

Yeah, they recommended a while ago in our area to not use the mailboxes, so my wife stopped using them.

And that's it. Forget it.

So they're saying, you know, a tip from authorities for those concerned about their mail, they said, don't put the mail into the blue collection bins after the last posted pickup time because likely they're going to go overnight when, you know, it's dark out. So if you get, they're saying if you get your mail in there before the last pickup, you should be okay. Mail sitting in the box overnight has a higher chance of getting swiped. You can also go inside the post office and just drop it off there. Police say the thieves usually are hoping to find cash or checks. They wash the checks with acetone, change the amount, and then cash them at the bank. It's elaborate. Yeah. The Postal Inspection Service says it's working with local police and the U.S. Attorney's Office to prosecute crimes like these at the federal level. Are they ever looking for letters to Santa that they hope to fulfill? Because it would be so sweet, but you never hear that. Right. Crime scene investigators removed a body encased in concrete from a Philadelphia home on Monday afternoon.

The home in the 5,200 block of Burton Street and Wicinoming has been the focus of a police investigation.

The search began after investigators got a tip that a body of a woman missing for eight years was buried in the basement.

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