A Country Club Hills man has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for using the U.S. Postal Service’s arrow keys to steal packages from the Chicago post office, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.
Thaddeus Harper was convicted along with another man, Joseph Solomon, in connection with Operation Broken Arrow, a federal investigation into mail thefts using stolen arrow keys, which unlock doors and entry systems in nearly every apartment and office building in Chicago and several suburbs, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney.
Harper used a replica arrow key to enter multiple Chicago residences in 2021 and steal mail and packages from at least 10 victims, the release said.
In one of his robberies, Harper used the key to enter an apartment building in Chicago’s River West neighborhood, where he stole a piece of mail containing two checks worth a total of $2,500. Harper also stole other packages addressed to the same victim, worth more than $6,600, the statement said.
Harper, 44, and Solomon, 39, of Norridge, pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal charges of illegally possessing a U.S. Postal Service key, the release said.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced Harper on Tuesday, and Solomon was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall on Wednesday to two years in federal prison.
Authorities said Solomon used a genuine arrow key in 2022 to open a mailbox panel at an apartment building in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Solomon stuffed pieces of mail into a trash bag and fled the area. He was later arrested in Indiana while driving a stolen U-Haul truck and leading police on a high-speed chase. Solomon crashed several vehicles in Hammond, Indiana, before being arrested, the news release said.
Originally published:
