A Wayne County postal worker allegedly stole gift cards from customers in Canton, according to an affidavit.
On Dec. 4, a customer said her daughter mailed greeting cards on Nov. 27 from Colorado to the customer's residence in Canton and also to a friend in Livonia. Both cards had Target gift cards in the amount of $30. When the cards were received, the gift cards were missing.
Target Loss Prevention said the cards were used on Dec. 1 at their store in Commerce Township located at Haggerty Road. Investigators identified a postal employee, 44-year-old Yolanda Wiliams, who lived about three miles from that Target store. Additionally, the pieces of mail that contained the gift cards were processed at the Detroit Processing and Distribution Facility on Nov. 29. Investigators say Williams worked at that location and would have had access to the mail as she worked on sorting machines. Her duties as a clerk included processing mail on postal machines destined for post offices in sequence for delivery.
On Dec. 11, investigators placed a mail test piece destined for Inkster in the sorter at the Detroit P&DC. The test piece contained two target gift cards. Investigators say after Williams started working at her storing machine, she allegedly opened five greeting cards, including the test card, and removed their contents.
Agents identified herself to Williams and she waived her Miranda rights. Investigators say Williams admitted to taking and opening the test piece and other mail on her sorting machine, as well as other pieces of mail over the past month. She admitted to taking gift cards out of mail she had opened and using them for personal use.
