Surveillance footage obtained by CNN appears to show a U.S. Postal Service contractor dumping mail in a parking lot in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale. The alleged dumping occurred last Thursday.

A man in a Budget rental truck was seen on security cameras taking bags of mail and dumping them in the parking lot of 7Q Spa and Laser Aesthetics. The owner of the business, Lilia Serobian, reported finding the bags full of unopened letters and packages.

"It was completely unusual. It's suspicious. You start thinking, 'OK, something is going on,' because no one has access to all those boxes and packages," Serobian said in an interview with Los Angeles television stations KCBS and KCAL.

More dumped mail was found in a nearby alley. The USPS postal union said the man is not one of their workers and likely an independent contractor brought in to transport mail received by the USPS to be sorted for distribution.

“If it's outgoing, we don't know how it got into the Budget truck,” said Omar Gonzalez, the Western Regional Coordinator for the American Postal Workers Union.

The mail was recovered in a deliverable condition and will be redistributed.

Gonzalez confirmed police and USPS investigators are looking into the matter.

The incident comes on the heels of broader delays and controversies with the USPS. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been accused of dismantling mail sorting machines and eliminating overtime to disrupt the upcoming presidential election, as well as committing felony campaign finance violations in North Carolina. DeJoy is currently under investigation by the House Oversight Committee. Changes DeJoy made to USPS policy have resulted in extensive mail delays.

RELATED STORIES