United State postal inspectors are offering an award of up to $150,000 to find the person who robbed a postal worker in Oakland.
Matthew Norfleet shared surveillance video of what happened on March 2 along Euclid Avenue.
“This is what letter carriers are facing when they're out on the street, trying to get people their mail. It’s unacceptable,” said the postal inspector.
The video appears to show a suspect pulling out a weapon, then demanding the postal worker turn over their mailbox keys.
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The suspect snatches the keys away from the postal worker, who screams as he runs off.
She wasn’t hurt. But Norfleet says attacks on postal workers are becoming more common across the Bay Area.
“These continue on a daily or weekly basis. That date of the robbery in Oakland, there was also a robbery in Tracy,” he said.
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Norfleet, and other postal inspectors, say getting the mailbox keys is the motive begging most of the attacks.
Video from February shows thieves using keys to open up mailboxes on 18th Street in San Francisco But in that case, postal inspectors quickly arrive on scene to make the arrest.
“The mail thieves are hoping they’ll be able to use those keys to open bigger groups of mailboxes and steal mail from more customers,” said Norfleet.
He said the suspect could face robbery charges resulting in up to 25 years in prison. And with a $150,000 award being offered, postal inspectors hope the public will help them catch the suspect before he strikes again.
“It’s a serious crime. We take it very seriously, as postal inspectors it’s our number one priority to investigate these crimes,” said Norfleet.
