A birthday girl, and other victims, are being reunited with their stolen mail after an alert citizen called to report suspicious activity. The suspect is now jailed on numerous charges and faces many more as the investigation continues.

On January 30th at 6:37 p.m. deputies responded to Lake Arrowhead subdivision for a suspicious person. The witness observed the suspect walking through the area, going through mailboxes and then entering the Sam’s Pizza at 8 Arrowhead Drive.

The suspect was surprised to find Deputies L.T. Ward and A.T. Leckemby waiting outside as he exited the pizza parlor. The suspect was identified as Christopher Peterson, 35, of Stafford. Peterson was already on our radar, as he was wanted on a probation violation from Stafford County Circuit Court.

Additionally, Peterson was the suspect in the theft of a chainsaw and miter saw last month in Stafford. Deputy L.T. Ward obtained and served two petit larceny warrants on Peterson for those offenses.

Furthermore, Peterson was the suspect in a false pretenses case on January 25th in Stafford County. Peterson is alleged to have sold an inoperable car for $250 without the car owner’s permission. Deputy B.E. Vaughn obtained a false pretenses warrant on Peterson in the case.

Deputy C.S. Harding responded to Lake Arrowhead to assist and recovered assorted mail and packages from Peterson. These items included several prescription bottles, blank checks, COVID home test kits and a “Happy Birthday” check. Deputy Harding spent the evening returning the stolen items to their owners. We are confident the birthday girl was happy to get her check back, as were the other victims of the mail thief.

Deputy Harding is still in the process of identifying victims and returning stolen property. Additional charges are forthcoming in those cases. Peterson is currently incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail on a $1,500 bond for the theft and false pretense cases and no bond for the probation violation.

Thank you to the citizen that alerted us to this postal pillager. Great teamwork by the deputies to end this crime spree.