CHICAGO — A Loop resident accused of possessing U.S. Postal Service master keys and a stolen U-Haul has been sentenced to two years of probation, according to court records.
You may remember our story about Matthew Hutcheson, 33, after a U.S. Postal Inspector spent three days staking out his downtown neighborhood before finally arresting him at 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
The postal inspector was looking for Hutcheson in connection with a burglary in the 400 block of North Carpenter in the West Loop in August, a CPD report said. Hutcheson’s luck ran out when the undercover inspector spotted him in the first block of East Benton, near his Loop apartment.
The police report stated that Hutcheson had a postal service master key when the inspector arrested him. However, a separate criminal complaint said the key was a forged copy of a mail carrier’s master key.
The police report stated that those keys, also known as “arrow keys,” can open postal service blue boxes, apartment and condo mailbox panels, and “call boxes of almost all city of Chicago apartments and condominiums. “
Experts say the stolen master keys, also known as “arrow keys,” are used by theft crews that steal checks, credit cards, and documents to fuel identity theft operations.
Prosecutors said he was carrying an ID with his picture but another man’s name and debit cards in another name at the time of his arrest.
He was also on pretrial release for another case in which he was accused of possessing five postal service master keys and a stolen U-Haul van in Edgewater on June 11.
Last week, Hutcheson pleaded guilty to burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle valued at more than $25,000. Judge Michael Hood put him on probation for two years and ordered him to submit DNA for indexing by law enforcement and to comply with random drug and alcohol testing, according to court records.
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