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Police: Woman Armed With Screwdriver Broke Into Mailboxes, Took Mail

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- U.S. Postal Inspectors think they've found the woman who's been prying into people's mailboxes with a screwdriver.

Carolyne Korotko, 40, a mother of three from North Braddock, is in the Allegheny County Jail facing charges.

Investigators say armed with screwdrivers, she was able to break into mailboxes primarily in apartment buildings in Shadyside, South Side, Forest Hills and Wilkinsburg.

They say they found thousands of pieces of mail shoved in drawers in her home.

They also say they have surveillance video that shows her breaking into some of the boxes. In video shared with KDKA-TV, you can see a woman pry her way into mailboxes for more than 20 minutes, snatching mail until she apparently hears someone coming.

"It's that time of year when we do see an uptick in mail theft unfortunately," says U.S. Postal Inspector J. Bruce Hammerle. "It appears she was targeting credit cards, gift cards, access device cards."

She allegedly used someone's credit card to buy a prepaid card at a store which she then used to pay her phone bill.

"We're going to be working to access the damage at this point on the credit card accounts," said Hammerle.

Investigators are sorting through thousands of pieces of mail, taking photographs of them and working to get them delivered to the people who were supposed to get them in the first place.

Korotko is facing a list of federal charges.

Turns out, she was on probation after pleading guilty to using someone's credit card that she had stolen from the mail.

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