Belfast, Northport Swanville, Searsport and Union residents, at about 2:30 a.m. and again at 4:44 a.m. Christmas were hit with mailbox robbers, according to a Facebook post by the Belfast Police Department and Chief Brian McFadden.

The police took calls from residents early Christmas morning regarding a vehicle that appeared to be pulling up to mail boxes. One report indicated it appeared as if the occupants of the vehicle were using flashlights to look into the mail boxes, according to Belfast PD.

“Officer Lewis Dyer, who was working his first shift after graduating from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, found a vehicle matching the description parked behind the Faith Temple Church on Route 52 (Lincolnville Ave).,” the PD said. “Officer Dyer made contact with the two young males who were in the vehicle. The officer noticed right away that the vehicle was littered with mail. After some investigation the Officer arrested a Swanville resident, 19-year-old Randy Elwell, and summonsed his juvenile partner in crime.

“The list of victims is enormous, however in order to break this down for everyone who may not have received an expected package in the mail today or yesterday I'll list the streets which mail was taken from. There are more than 30 streets in all so please excuse the extensive post.

“After reading this post if you think you may have been a victim, please contact the Belfast Police Department on Tuesday (12/27/2016) after 8 a.m. Monday is the Holiday and we simply will not have enough staff on duty to handle the number of calls we expect. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

“The following is the list of streets we recovered stolen mail from.

Congress Street in Belfast
Atlantic Highway in Northport
Curtis Road in Swanville
Bluff Road in Northport
Cross Street in Northport
Harvey Street in Belfast
Hammond Drive in Belfast
Smart Road in Belfast 
Bayside Road in Northport
Reeds Lane Belfast
Swanlake Ave. in Belfast
Rocky Road in Northport
Pine Road in Swanville
Tall Oaks Drive in Northport
Oak Hill Road in Swanville
Lincolnville Ave in Belfast
Battery Road in Belfast
Herrick Road in Belfast
Boynton Drive in Belfast
Whight Street in Belfast
Merry Lane (Believed to be Swanville)
Woodrow Lane in Belfast
Roberts Road in Swanville 
Broadway Road in Northport
Clinton Street in Northport
Ellis Road in Swanville
Little River Lane in Northport
Bonnie Lane in Union
East Main Street in Searsport
Cedar Street in Belfast
Hatley Road in Belfast
Willow Way (location unknown)

“Other recovered items (non-mail items) were reported stolen over the past couple weeks.

“There are several hundred victims in this theft, we will work hard to get everyone’s property back to them with the least amount of frustration possible.

“As always if you have further information regarding these incidents please contact us.

“I'd like to thank the two citizens who took the time to call in with their concerns about the activity they noticed and also Officer Dyer for his good work on finding these two individuals and putting a stop the the harmful actions they were taking. Officer Eric Kelley and Officer John Guba spent hours today catologing streets, towns and names from the mail that was recovered so we could put this information out to the public and get their property back to them. Early next week we will be contacting the Postal Inspectors Office and sharing our information with them in the event they wish to pursue any potential federal violations.

“We're sorry to post such negative information on what should be a happy and care free day. We wish you all a Merry Christmas.”