By Joel Hillan

DENVER (CBS4) – A neighborhood had to be shut down for several hours Friday evening when a suspicious device was found inside a mailbox.

It turned out to be a “fishing” device, designed to steal outgoing mail. These devices are typically rudimentary and handmade and have been used for decades.

The United States Postal Inspection Service tells us this is the third such device found in blue collection boxes in the Denver Metro Area in just the last week:

The King Soopers on Holly Street in Centennial

Sherman Street and 4 th Avenue

Avenue The Englewood Post Office

The incident at the Englewood Post Office was caught on surveillance video. In the video the driver of a black KIA can be seen actively fishing for mail.

Authorities are hoping you can help them find the driver of that car with Colorado license plate number 095-ZKX.

The USPIS says until the suspect is caught, the public should bypass the big blue collect boxes and go inside the post office to send mail.

Drop off your outgoing mail INSIDE the post office until we have shut this suspect down. If you’ve sent mail from a blue collection box recently, check with the sender to be sure they received it. — USPIS – Denver (@USPIS_DEN) February 3, 2018

If you spot anything suspicious at a mail box or on your bank account, you are asked to immediately call police.

You can call 1-877-876-2455 or submit a form online at https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.