$50K reward offered in robbery of San Francisco postal worker
SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect who robbed a postal worker in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood last week.
It happened around 11:20 a.m. on May 24. Officials say a USPS letter carrier was on Lyon Street when the suspect robbed the carrier's mail keys.
The USPIS Office released surveillance photos of the suspect, seen riding a scooter while wearing a patterned ski mask and bright orange jacket with a Golden State Warriors logo on the back.
This robbery is the latest in a series of recent incidents targeting Bay Area postal workers.
"Being a mail carrier is a physically and mentally demanding job, and they should not have to put enough with people pointing guns at them and threatening them with weapons," said Matthew Norfleet, a San Francisco-based postal inspector.
According to Norfleet, carriers are instructed to comply with the robbers' demands and to not try fighting back.
"Carrier safety is the most important thing," said Norfleet. "The mail is important, but it's not important enough to risk somebody getting shot or beat up over."
Norfleet said these kinds of robberies are a crime of opportunity. The thieves take the mail keys, which they then use to steal mail out of local mailboxes. That gives them access to everything from items bought online to sensitive personal information, such as credit card applications or social security numbers.
Anyone with information about any local postal robbery is asked to call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at (877) 876-2455.
"Somebody in San Francisco knows this person," said Norfleet. "And the reward money is worth more than the keys."
