East Bay postal worker stole cell phones from mail, feds say

FILE - NOVEMBER 10, 2014: It was reported that alleged Chinese hackers compromised the data of hundreds of thousands of U.S. Postal Service employees in recent network breach November 10, 2014. NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 25: Signage for the United States Post Office (USPS) is seen on September 25, 2013 in New York City. The USPS announced today that they're considering raising the price of stamps by 3 cents. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) less FILE - NOVEMBER 10, 2014: It was reported that alleged Chinese hackers compromised the data of hundreds of thousands of U.S. Postal Service employees in recent network breach November 10, 2014. NEW YORK, NY - ... more Photo: Andrew Burton, Getty Images Photo: Andrew Burton, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close East Bay postal worker stole cell phones from mail, feds say 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A U.S. postal worker in Fremont has been charged with mail theft for allegedly stealing numerous cell phones that were supposed to be delivered to customers, court records show.

Romeo Moog Talag, 56, of Hayward, a 16-year postal worker, was named in a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland. He is the second postal worker in the Bay Area in six months to be charged with stealing mail.

The investigation began in January 2013 when employees at the Irvington Post Office in Fremont found packages “in rifled condition and/or reported by customers as missing,” Special Agent Michael Appio of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General wrote in a court affidavit.

Most of the packages contained high-end smartphones, including iPhones and Samsung Galaxy models, Appio wrote.

In August 2013, an AT&T customer complained that he never got a Samsung Galaxy S4 worth $639. Tracking data showed that the package was marked “available for pickup” at the Irvington Post Office.

AT&T determined that the missing phone had been activated the same day it had been marked ready for pickup, the affidavit says. The phone was linked to an account in the name of a woman with the last name Talag, Appio wrote.

Appio searched Postal Service databases and found the only postal worker with that last name was Talag and that the woman in question was his daughter, the affidavit says.

When Appio asked Talag about the missing phone during an interview in September 2013, he said, “I cannot answer that sir. I don’t understand what’s happened. I’m surprised,” the affidavit says.

Appio then noticed a cell phone in the front pocket of Talag’s uniform shirt, the affidavit says. Talag pulled it out and said he had bought it on Craigslist, but it was the missing phone, Appio wrote.

Appio said he asked if the phone was in fact the stolen item. “Talag reacted to this question by putting his head down and shaking it side to side, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply,” the affidavit says. “Talag then said, 'So I’m the one stealing?’ A moment later Talag pointed at the Galaxy S4 and said, 'I’m sorry for that.’”

Talag eventually acknowledged that he had stolen 10 phones from the mail over two years, Appio wrote.

A search of his home and vehicles yielded numerous cell phones, phone parts, a “rifled birthday card” and a $50 Walmart Visa gift card, Appio wrote. Talag initially said the card was a gift from his daughter, “but later said he may have stolen it from the mail,” the affidavit says.

Appio found a black iPhone 5 box bottom in the kitchen, and Talag said the phone was rightfully his, the affidavit says. But Appio said he later traced the phone from the box and learned that it had belonged to a Fremont man who never received it.

The case bears similarites to that of Quan Howard, 53, of Saratoga, a supervisory postal inspector indicted on charges that he stole mail containing prescription pills, jewelry, passports, collectible Playboy magazines and other items that had gotten loose from torn or damaged packages in San Jose.

Howard, once named a federal employee of the year, has pleaded not guilty.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @HenryKLee