GOING POSTAL: Armed NYC burglar assaulted USPS employee before stealing 100K from post office safe
BRONX, NEW YORK CITY: An armed burglar threatened and hit a US Postal Service (USPS) worker with a gun on Tuesday, September 6, on a Bronx street, and was caught escaping on video. The burglar demanded the postal worker unlock the federal office and then stole more than $100,000 stashed inside the safe.
The 56-year-old worker was outside the USPS building on Castle Hill Avenue near Powell Avenue in Unionport just after 7 am when the suspect approached her from behind and hit her in the head with a gun, cops said. He then ordered her to unlock the building and open the safe inside, they added. The robber then swiped about $112,000 in cash and an unknown amount of money order and escaped the crime scene. The burglar arrived at the post office around 5.20 am in a white van, according to a nearby CCTV camera footage.
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According to reports, the postal worker was dropped off by her husband at the building. He then returned to the parking after which the robber ran toward the building and threatened her. The postal worker’s husband, seeing something was awry, ran across the street and into the building moments before his wife’s attacker hurled back out of the office holding a bag with the loot and drove off in his getaway van.
The woman and her husband were not hurt. The FBI has been investigating the incident. “At this time, I don’t have any other information I’m able to provide or confirm,” the agency spokesperson confirmed. “Thankfully there were no injuries to any postal employees or customers,” postal inspector Kathryn Searles said, adding, “Safety and security of postal employees is a top priority for the United States Postal Inspection Service."
Inspector Searles said, "The federal agency is working with law enforcement to nab the thief. We are trained federal law-enforcement agents, and we have been doing this for 200 years, and we have extremely competent people,” she said. “We are working to solve this.”
The US Postal Service wrote in a statement, “At approximately 7:05 am this morning, the Castle Hill Station, 1163 Castle Hill Ave, Bronx, NY, 10462-9991 was robbed by an unknown individual. There were no injuries to employees or customers. The Postal Inspection Service is leading the investigation with support from NYPD and the FBI to locate and apprehend the individual responsible for this crime. If you have any information related to this matter, please contact Postal Inspectors immediately at 212-330-5266.”