The car driven by Parks was stopped by police after authorities said it had no visible registration while heading north on Far Hills Avenue around 3:45 a.m., according to the report.
An Oakwood officer approached the car, spoke to the two occupants and smelled what he believed to be marijuana. After the officer told the two to get out of the vehicle, Parks said he could search the car, according to the report.
After further discussion with the two, an Oakwood police officer said “without me asking, Parks again told me to search the vehicle . . .”
Apart from Oakwood, Beavercreek, Dayton, Huber Heights, Kettering, Centerville/Washington Twp. and Trotwood are among the local communities where mail-related crime has been reported.
Since the end of 2021, USPS mailboxes have been reported stolen from at least seven mail collection containers in different jurisdictions, amounting to thousands of dollars in stolen checks.
In the Oakwood case, a search of the car turned up “several packages and envelopes that were in plain sight” and “none of the envelopes were addressed to or from Parks, Reese or the registered owner of the vehicle,” Parks’ mother said , the police report states.
Both Parks and Reese “denied any knowledge of any stolen packages, envelopes or other mail-related items,” according to the report.
Later that morning, Oakwood police were notified that a USPS mailbox at 2601 Far Hills had been tampered with, according to the report.
Parks and Reese are scheduled for a May 18 hearing on the charges, first-degree misdemeanors, according to Oakwood Municipal Court records.
The Postal Service inspector’s office is working with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Ohio on the case, Nicole Lutz, a spokeswoman for the inspector’s office, said in a e-mail.
