Posted: 7/15/2005 8:12:11 PM EDT
|
Missingg anything guys? Deputies deliver warrant to UPS driver Stolen goods in home valued at $100,000 Friday, July 15, 2005 By Paul Rioux St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau A United Parcel Service driver was arrested Wednesday for allegedly making unauthorized special deliveries to his Meraux home, dropping off stolen packages containing tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, authorities said. Mark Raschke, 50, was booked with felony possession of stolen property after sheriff's deputies executed a search warrant at his home and discovered a veritable warehouse of pilfered UPS packages, said Maj. John Doran, chief of detectives for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office. The list of items found in the opened boxes includes a half-dozen computers, more than 40 handguns and rifles, dozens of fishing poles, about 200 bottles of wine, several boxes of cigars, unopened cases of expensive Montblanc pens and a $2,000 bicycle. "Just about anything that you could order through the mail, he had it," Doran said. "There is no indication that he was selling the stuff. He was just pack-ratting it." UPS officials had placed Raschke, a 28-year employee, under surveillance as a suspect in an internal investigation into an unusual number of missing packages at a New Orleans area distribution center, Doran said. Doran said company officials notified the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday after they saw Raschke back his delivery truck up to his house at 2121 Valmar Drive and unload a package containing a 26-inch plasma TV addressed to a Pearl River man. Doran said Raschke, whose route covered parts of New Orleans, took the packages from bins earmarked for other drivers. He credited the company for taking the lead in investigating the alleged thefts. UPS spokesman Dan McMackin said the company's insurance policy would have paid for the stolen packages because an internal tracking system would have shown they were lost while in transit. "We're entrusted with people's goods, so our integrity is paramount," he said. "This case is an absolute rarity." Doran said Raschke told deputies that he didn't need extra money because made $75,000 a year as a UPS driver. "It looks like he did this just for the thrill," said Doran, who estimated the value of the stolen property at more than $100,000. "Who knows? Maybe he planned to sell the stuff on eBay to pay for his retirement." |
