Man arrested for stealing community mailbox, welder in Visalia, police say

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- A suspect was arrested Wednesday for a string of thefts in the South Valley.

The Visalia Police Department says a community mailbox was stolen on Cecil Court near Leila Street in the early morning hours of May 22.

Nearby home surveillance cameras caught the suspects under the mailbox before lifting it and putting it into the back of a pickup truck.

Detectives say they later identified one suspect as 28-year-old Steven Blackford.

On the evening of June 19, officers responded to someone stealing a welder from Lowe's on Mooney Boulevard.

The theft was also caught on camera, which investigators say helped them identify the suspect as Blackford.

Blackford has been booked for two counts of grand theft.