MOSES LAKE — Two Moses Lake women were arrested in Moses Lake early Wednesday morning with almost 400 pieces of stolen mail.

About 1 a.m. Wednesday morning Moses Lake Police Department officers responded to the 2100 block of West Peninsula Drive after receiving a report of two women stealing mail in the area. Officers quickly found a vehicle in the area that matched a description given to police by the reporting party.

Capt. Mike Williams said the vehicle was occupied by two females and when the vehicle was stopped, the passenger in the car started stuffing mail under her seat. Taken into custody by police were Jessica Steele, 29, and Brittany Strong, 21, both of Moses Lake. The vehicle was impounded and officers served a search warrant on the car.

Police reportedly recovered 395 pieces of stolen mail from 118 separate addresses in the Moses Lake area, inside and outside of city limits. In addition, officers recovered heroin paraphernalia from inside the vehicle. Williams says the suspects were booked into the Grant County Jail on 23 counts of mail theft.

MLPD officers are currently working to contact the victims and return their mail, with additional charges expected to be filed against the suspects.

“As we are coming into the busy time of the year for mail and package thieves, we can only hope that these two will be locked up for a while and we can focus on the rest of them,” Williams said. “We would like to thank the person who took the time to call in when they noticed something was out of the ordinary. Our success depends on a strong relationship between the department and members of the community.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.