Ankle monitor helped catch suspect now charged in armed robberies of Twin Cities mail carriers, US attorney says
MINNEAPOLIS — A 26-year-old St. Paul man faces decades in federal prison after he allegedly robbed two Twin Cities mail carriers in a two-day span last year.
The U.S. Attorney's Office charged Rubin David Adams last week with two counts of assault and attempted robbery "while putting a person's life in jeopardy with the use of a deadly weapon."
Court documents state Adams allegedly walked up to a mail carrier in Edina on Nov. 18, 2023, pointed a gun at them a demanded their "mailbox key." The carrier didn't have one and allegedly gave Adams two sets of USPS vehicle keys instead.
The next day, Adams is alleged to have walked up to a mail carrier in Brooklyn Center, pointed a gun at their head, and again demanded a mailbox key — making off with two in the encounter, according to court documents.
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Investigators used surveillance footage to identify the vehicle Adams is alleged to have fled in during both robberies, and police spotted the vehicle in north Minneapolis hours after the second robbery and tried to pull the driver over, court documents state. The vehicle fled and eventually crashed into a tree. The occupants left the scene before officers arrived.
Police obtained a warrant to search the car a couple of days later, and found a USPS key inside, as well as a birth certificate belonging to Adams' younger brother, according to court documents.
Adams' brother was arrested several days later, and the mail carriers were brought to a police lineup in an attempt to identify him as the suspect. Both mail carriers told police he was not the robber, court documents state, but the apparent setback in the investigation led to a closer look into the brother's social media posts.
Investigators soon found videos posted by Adams, including one featuring a USPS key, and others that appeared to show stolen checks and money orders, according to court documents.
Police then began to comb through Adams' cellphone data, which connected him to both robbery scenes, court documents state. Adams was also found to be out on probation for multiple felonies in Georgia, and in violation of his probation conditions because he didn't inform his probation officer that he left the state.
Court documents state Adams is also on pretrial release for another case in George for financial transaction card fraud and identity theft charges, for which he's required to wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor.
Investigators then reviewed his ankle monitor data, which also connected to both robbery scenes and various mailbox thefts, including one on Christmas Day outside the Brooklyn Center Post Office, according to court documents.
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Adams was eventually arrested and made his first court appearance last week. He will return to court Tuesday for a preliminary and detention hearing. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
"We take this issue very seriously and will continue to ensure postal employees are safe and free from violence as they serve their communities," said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.
On Sunday, a rally was held outside Downtown Minneapolis' Main Post Office to highlight the uptick in violence against mail carriers.
"Over 2,000 letter carriers have been victims of violent crime. This is, unfortunately, a growing problem not just here in the Twin Cities or in the state of Minnesota, but around the country," said Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers AFL-CIO.
The NALC says a mail truck was also broken into in Minneapolis in November.