CPD issues alert of a dozen armed robberies, carjacking involving USPS carriers across Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – A dozen postal workers were robbed at gunpoint across Chicago during March and April, and the thefts could affect your mail service. The thieves are looking for something very specific -- postal keys. It's a sort of master key that opens up blocks of mailboxes.
In the Tri-Taylor neighborhood, where one of the most recent robberies happened, the residents are banding together.
A postal worker walked along the 700 block of South Claremont Saturday afternoon just days after her coworker was robbed at gunpoint. He is a delivery man well-known by the neighbors.
"His name is Victor," said Farshid Derakh. "I want to wish him the best and make sure that he is safe. We look out for each other here definitely. You know, I look out for my neighbors and they watch out for us."
Neighbors say they've raised $5000 for Victor, but he is just one of a dozen victims in a string of mail carrier thefts.
The robberies since March 2 were spread over different parts of the city but a similar method was used each time. Police say a group of one to three men wearing dark clothes and ski masks approaches a mail carrier, armed with guns, demanding the US postal keys. The say in most of these cases the thieves took off in a waiting car, but in one case they even took the mail delivery truck.
Kyle Glasper, like other Tri-Taylor residents, is worried this now compromises the security of his own mail deliveries since he uses a group mailbox at his home.
"It is like a chain of unsafety, right? They're passing the key along, making copies, distributing that," said Glasper. "Nothing is safe. Nothing is safe right now, right?"
The last mail robbery included in Chicago Police's list was Wednesday. That same day the USPS put out a $50,000 reward for information in a separate robbery from January, hoping someone will have the information to solve at least some of these crimes.
The following are the incident times and locations:
- 1400 block of South Halsted Street on March 02, 2023, at 1:15 pm.
- 100 block of South Leavitt Street on March 7, 2023, at 2:45 pm.
- 7900 block of South La Salle Street on March 7, 2023, at 3:15 pm.
- 200 block of North Wells Street on March 7, 2023, at 6:28 pm.
- 9200 block of South Throop Street on March 14, 2023, at 12:08 pm.
- 2200 block of West Warren Boulevard on March 15, 2023, at 2:30 pm.
- 100 block of South Seeley Avenue on March 16, 2023, at 11:20 am.
- 2900 block of West Wilcox Street on March 18, 2023, at 11:30 am.
- 6600 block of North Hoyne Avenue on March 20, 2023, at 2:32 pm.
- 1800 block of West Maypole Avenue on March 23, 2023, at 7:40 pm.
- 700 block of South Claremont Avenue on April 4, 2023, at 2:00 pm.
- 1500 block of South Drake Avenue on April 5, 2023, at 2:24 pm.
The suspects are described as African American males between 15 and 25 years of age, wearing dark clothing and ski masks. The offenders were armed with semi-automatic handguns.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bureau of Detectives Area Three at 312-744-8263.