Northern California mail carrier assaults linked to identity theft ring
STOCKTON - Federal investigators are seeking the public's help in finding a suspect wanted in a postal carrier assault in Stockton that was captured on a surveillance camera.
The suspect robbed the postal worker while she was on her mail route. The surveillance video shows a postal carrier outside her truck, walking up a Stockton driveway when a white car pulls up.
A man gets out of the car wearing a mask and jogs up behind her. Just out of frame, you can hear the carrier let out a scream.
The pair re-appear showing the suspect going after the carrier's master key attached to her belt. She's able to detach it and free herself and the suspect takes off in a getaway car.
Nenita Palomares lives at the home where the assault took place.
"I was totally in shock that it happened in our neighborhood," Palomares said.
Her surveillance camera caught it all.
"What she's doing is just minding her own business, she's trying to deliver a package to my house," Palomares said. "I'm glad that she's ok, that she didn't get shot or stabbed or anything."
Neighbors who know the postal worker said she is taking time off after being shaken up.
"Something like this happens, it's a real shock," Neighbor Vanessa Serna said.
Federal inspectors say this attack is part of a spike in mail carrier assaults reported across Northern California and that an identity theft ring is behind the attacks.
"There will be no stone left unturned, in our efforts to identify, find, and arrest anyone who would sink so low as to rob a carrier on their route," San Francisco Division Postal Inspector in Charge Raphael Nunez said.
Can surveillance video of the suspect lead investigators to their home address?
The U.S. Postal Service is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
