
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 29, 1994                   TAG: 9412290107
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

POST OFFICE SEARCHING FOR BRANCH THIEVES

The U.S. Postal Service is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information about the burglary of the Hollins postal branch.

Postal Inspector Morris Roberson said he has no leads on the suspects who broke into the branch at 6621 Williamson Road last Thursday.

``They grabbed as many coils of stamps as they could get their hands on, and a small amount of cash,'' Roberson said.

He said the thieves took rolls of 29-cent flag stamps and ``G'' stamps - the stamp issued to meet the new 32-cent stamp requirement.

Later the same night, 14 blue collection boxes in the Roanoke, Hardy and Hollins areas were broken into.

Roberson said he believes the two incidents are connected. If any mail was stolen out of the boxes, it could be the key to finding the thief or thieves.

``If any negotiable items - checks or money orders - were stolen, the robbers might try to cash them and we could trace it,'' Roberson said.

Anyone with information about the robberies should call (804) 775-6267.

by CNB