$150K reward posted after mail carriers attacked in 2 separate SF incidents: 'They are being hunted'

ByLena Howland KGO logo

Friday, October 20, 2023

SF mail carriers attacked in 2 separate incidents; $150K reward posted

Two mail carriers were attacked in San Francisco's Mission District in two separate incidents this week in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Two mail carriers were attacked in San Francisco's Mission District in two separate incidents this week.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service says attacks on mail carriers are happening at a disturbing rate, unlike anything they've seen before.

And now, they're willing to pay out a $150,000 reward for any information identifying the suspects in two recent attacks.

MORE: Feds offer $150K reward for info leading to arrest of suspects who attack Bay Area postal workers

Postal Inspection released a video of one of the attacks in the Mission District.

And while you can't see the attack, you can hear the screams of a mail career being attacked and you can see a gray car speeding away from the scene.

Investigators believe it was involved in the robbery.

It happened in broad daylight Tuesday afternoon at 26th Street and San Jose Avenue.

"It's a menace to letter carriers across the Bay Area right now and I think you can hear in that video how upsetting this is for a person just trying to do their job which is already mentally and physically demanding," Matthew Norfleet, a U.S. Postal Inspector with the San Francisco Division Mail Fraud Team said.

But that wasn't the only incident.

MORE: Bay Area postal workers demand better protections amid rising attacks, threats

U.S. Postal Inspectors shared photos of what they believe to be a suspect's getaway car in a different mail carrier attack.

This one happened just a six-minute drive away from the first attack.

But this time, the worker was robbed of their mail keys.

"The key itself is the object of the robbery in almost every one of these instances, whether it's here in the Bay Area or across the country," Norfleet said. "There's only one reason to have that key and it's to commit another crime."

Norfleet says illegally possessing one of these mail keys is a federal crime.

Just last week, the U.S. Attorney's Office indicted 10 people from the Bay Area for crimes related to possessing these keys.

INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker

Some of those suspects are now facing decades in prison.

"It's very upsetting because these carriers are hard-working people just trying to deliver the mail and they shouldn't have to put up with this," he said. "But also, they're being assaulted, they're having weapons pointed at them, they're being hit and shoved and beaten to get something really, that's not even theirs."

Postal inspection is now trying to catch more offenders.

To help with that, they are raising the reward for reporting mail crimes from $50,000 to $150,000.

"Letter carriers don't wake up in the morning wondering is someone if someone is going to stick a gun in their face," Edward Fletcher, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers East Bay Branch said. "They are being hunted and these criminals need to be held accountable."

Residents are being urged to pick up their mail as soon as possible and don't leave it in the mailbox overnight, because that's when they say theft is more likely to happen.

Another option is to have your mail held at the post office.